The Unseen Conflict
by The Servant of the Stars
Summary: Mother Nature doesn't remember her past life. She doesn't even remembere how she became Mother Nature. This doesn't matter to her though and she carries on with bringing the seasons. But when a more powerful opponent threatens her existence she is forced to ask herself: "Who am I?" Jack/OC
1. Chapter 1

The Unseen Conflict

by Joyfulelf

 ** _Just feel the magic in the air and the power in the breeze; Feel the energy of the plants, the bushes, and the trees; let yourself be surrounded by nature at its best; Calm yourself, focus and let magic do the rest._**

 ** _-Sally Walker_**

Mother Nature was a quiet person. She often spent time alone, making shapes out of the fluffy cotton-candy like clouds. She was seldomly seen around others and almost never left her empire. It was her home, and she believed that that was where she belonged.

Today she could be seen, regularly tending to her expansive garden. She quietly hummed and brushed away an black piece of her hair before brushing off her hands and standing up from the small patch of peonies.

"I've gotta admit," (She liked talking to herself), "Weeds _are_ annoying."

Even though Mother Nature had the ability to pick the weeds with a wave of her hand, she'd rather pick them herself. It made her feel as if she had an enormously deep connection with the nature that was practically impossible to sever.

Mother Nature sighed in relief as she picket up the wooden bucket filled with the stinky weeds. She moved down to her where her rhododendrons were planted and began there.

To be honest, she had been at this weed picking party for the past five hours. She had nothing better to do so weeding her garden seemed ideal.

"Mother Nature," One Flower Sprite, (a being that had the shape of a human and was made up of only flower petals) floated up to Mother Nature.

"Yes?" The eternally eighteen-year-old wielder of nature said after plucking up one particularly tough weed. "Ah yes, Lily. Are you here for the regular update of my Season Sprites?"

"Yes, ma'am." The Flower Sprite nodded.

"And how are they doing?"

"There seems to be a little trouble with ushering springtime in." The Flower Sprite informed.

Mother Nature's normal happy attitude was soon replaced with a scowl. "Don't tell me. Let me guess... Jack Frost decided to spring up a Snow Day?"

"Yes ma'am. A particularly terrible frost was brought in two nights ago and now all the budding blossoms are frozen over."

Mother Nature heaved a disappointed sigh as she shook her head, "I swear, that Guardian can act like a five-year-old all the time! I mean, we're the same age, for Sandy's Sake!" She brushed off the dark green, knee length skirt that she always wore.

"I'll go wash up and see what I can do to fix the mess..."

"Thank you ma'am. I am aware of the fact that you don't enjoy leaving the empire."

"It's fine, Lily. I'm not going just to fix the mess itself, anyway." She muttered before walking, her previously happy mood now replaced with one of disgust.

* * *

Mother Nature stepped out from the bright green portal produced from one of her magic beans. She straightened the dark green cloak that she now wore and looked at the busy town around her.

"Ah, the town of Burgess." She said before letting out a chilly shiver.

"I hate the cold." She admitted before kicking away a pile of snow. Mother Nature hummed in interest before reaching up and grabbing a ray of sunlight. She focused the small ray on the pile of snow she had kicked away and watched as it started to slowly, but surely melt away.

"Now I just have to do this for the rest of the town." Mother Nature said as she annoyingly puffed away her side bangs. She walked away, taking time to cast little rays of light on patches of frost and snow. As she crossed the road to work on the other side, a two people zoomed past.

"Try to keep up, Jamie!" An all too familiarly mischievous voice laughed as he made his way down the road.

"Don't go too far ahead Jack!" A child laughed as he skated on the frost Jack had made.

Mother Nature made a face as she poked the thick strip of ice with her bare feet.

"How...?" She asked before stepping onto the strip of ice. She slipped and landed flat on her backside.

"I hate the cold." She muttered once again before standing up. She slid forward on the ice and furrowed her eyebrows. She hummed in interest before sliding one foot forward. Mother Nature continued to slide one foot in front of the other, sliding down the strip of ice. She stumbled a few times, but soon got the gist of it.

"So this is what it feels like to ice skate." She observed and began to pick up speed. Soon she couldn't help but smile as she zoomed thoughout the town. This was exhilarating! The wind in her hair, the feeling of warmth that radiated from the sun. She hadn't had this much fun since...

And just like that, her happy moment was over. The excited smile she wore was taken over by a deadpanned expression. Mother Nature remembered why she was here. She jumped off the ice strip. All joyful feeling was sucked out of Mother Nature and she looked as bored as ever. She shook her head, folded her arms over her chest. A determined look set on her face as she marched throughout the town.

Once she came to the center of the town, she looked at the large statue that marked the middle of the town. She was about to give up looking for Jack until him and Jamie zoomed past.

"Jack!" Mother Nature yelled the name and watched him flinch, knowing full well who was calling for him.

"Come on Jack! I thought you said we'd be doing this all day!" Jamie said as he excitedly looked at Jack.

Anger oozed from Mother Nature's emerald green eyes as she marched up to Jack. She stomped one foot down and the piece of ground that she stood shot up into the air, creating a large pillar of earth.

Mother Nature noticed Jamie's dumb-founded and confused expression. She ignored it for the time being and glared at Jack.

"Do you _know_ how far away spring is?! One week! My Flower Sprites can't recover _every single_ flower in the world where they're frozen over!" She ranted, but stopped when she noticed Jack's smug expression.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked, her fists clenched.

"I couldn't help but notice you having fun just a moment ago."

A look of worry flashed in Mother Nature's eyes. It was quickly replaced with a scowl.

"I-I wasn't having _fun_!" She retorted.

"Yes you were." Jack stepped onto the earthy platform.

"No I wasn't."

"Yeah you were."

"No, I was-" She backed away and off platform. She caught herself but was now standing in middair.

"I thought I was the only one who did that." Jack leaned his face against the crook of his staff.

"Well, you're wrong." Mother Nature softly landed on the ground.

"Ah, c'mon Nature. You're not holding a grudge, are you?"

"Yes! Blizzard of '68?" She reminded.

"Oh, you and Bunny."

"Yeah! I can't-" She was cut off when a small bluebird landed on her shoulder and immediately began to speak in twitters and chirps.

'The Empire. A decay is spreading!' The bird sounded extremely worried. Mother Nature's emerald eyes widened with fear.

"No! How could he have-" She whispered before rummaging through the flowery satchel that hung from her shoulder. She dug out a small bottle of green sparkling beans.

"What's the problem?" Jack said as he watched Mother Nature's odd behavior.

"It's none of your business." Mother Nature retorted as she threw the bean at the ground. A green portal began to grow at Mother Nature's feet and she immediately hopped in.

"Jamie, I'll be right back." Jack said before hopping in after Mother Nature. The portal closed, leaving Jamie to stare at a pillar of earth.


	2. Chapter 2

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 2_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

The two teenagers hopped out of the portal.

Surrounding them was a lush forest filled with thick, oak trees. Flowers of every kind grew everywhere. Wildlife wandered around as if the two teenagers weren't standing on the forest. The warmth of the sun could be felt, even through the shady canopy that the trees provided.

Mother Nature, not even knowing that Jack had followed her, took no time to run away.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked as he jumped into the air and used the wind to rush over to Mother Nature's side. The wielder of nature scowled, but still ran along.

"Why did you follow me?" She questioned in annoyance.

"No, I asked a question first." Jack said as he turned onto his back and sailed through the wind.

"My home."

"You have a home?" Jack sounded surprised.

Mother Nature made a face. "Of course I have a home! What kind of question is that?"

"I don't know. Why is everything so urgent?"

"It just is! You wouldn't understand."

"Oh yeah? Try me."

"No."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Like I said. You wouldn't understand."

"Whatever." He rose up and above Mother Nature before scooping her up.

"What are you doing?!" Mother Nature shrieked as she clutched Jack's arm and refused to look at the ground.

"We're not going anywhere at this rate." Jack smirked as he watched Mother Nature's terrified expression.

"Let me go!" She shrieked and screwed her eyes shut.

"Okay." Jack let Mother Nature go and watched as she plummeted towards the ground. She called out for something to save her and was scooped up by Jack again.

She didn't even say anything. Her emerald green eyes were wide with fear and she clung to Jack's arm. Jack could have sworn that he could see tears in the corner but shook it off. He knew Mother Nature was never that emotional.

"D-d-don't you e-ever d-d-do th-that to me again." She stuttered through small gasps of breath.

Jack only shrugged off the odd behavior and continued soaring on the wind.

"It's right over there." Mother Nature pointed to just a regular patch of trees.

"And here I thought you'd have a castle." Jack laughed.

"Oh, just you watch."

Mother Nature and Jack landed at the beginning of an long bridge that disappeared into the foliage. Mother Nature took a deep breath before stepping onto the bridge.

"So what? Are you afraid of heights, or something."

"Shh!" Mother Nature shushed and jumped over a few planks in the bridge.

"What's wrong with this-" Jack was cut off as the planks gave away. Mother Nature caught him by the hood of his jacket. She used the branches to help Jack up onto the bridge again.

"I'm not insane, Frost." She spat and continued to walk on the bridge.

"That's seriously debatable." Jack muttered under his breath.

Mother Nature stopped walking. She could feel the forest dying; she could feel how it was slowly having its life energy sapped away. How could she have not felt it before?

"No..." She whispered to herself and rushed down the bridge.

"Nature! What's the problem?" Jack said as he raced after Mother Nature. She stepped off the bridge and stared at what had happened.

The grass was a sickly brown. Mold was everywhere. The river that used to run under a smaller bridge to the castle Mother Nature had was now stagnant and smelled horrific. The flowers were wilted. The trees were sickly and knotted. The scent of death was prominent in the air.

Without a word, Mother Nature ran into the small stone castle that used to have ivy scaling it. Now the stones were cracked and weathered and the ivy was long gone.

"Nature!" Jack called of as he followed after Mother Nature.

The inside looked worse than the outside, if that was even a possibility. Everything smelled rancid, as if some animal had died and was left to rot. The once vibrant curtains were now stained, disintegrating, and faded. Plants scattered everywhere were long since dead.

Mother Nature shook her head as she ran up to a pillar that say in the middle of the circular room. It was covered in dead plants of all kinds. She rushed a swipe of her hand and the plants crawled back, revealing an intricately carved wooden door. Mother Nature threw the door opened and climbed up the stairs.

"What is this place?" Jack whispered to himself as he followed after Mother Nature.

He climbed into a reading room of sorts that contained a large bay window. A desk sat nearby with old tomes and books on top. A rug made literally out of clouds sat in the middle.

"Please let it still be here." She pleaded, making a complete mess as she yanked things off shelves and threw things off desks and tables. "Please be here." Was all she repeated.

"What are you looking for?" Jack curiously questioned.

"Oh, I think she's looking for this." A sickly looking young man walked into the study type room with a locket in his hands.

He was a thin, lanky figure with a black, hole infested cape that made his shoulders look way too big for his tiny body. He had grey, filthy hair that looked like it had been washed in a lifetime.

Mother Nature stood her ground. She felt the need to march right up to the man, take back her necklace, and give him the what for, but she knew he was at least ten times stronger than her. She could have easily taken him out, were it not for the fact that he had destroyed her home, the only thing she had.

"Now now, Nature. Don't be shy." The man gave a creepy grin. "You were lookin for this, after all. Why not take it?"

Mother Nature sneered. She hid her arms behind her back, already having a trick up her sleeve.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Jack whispered the question as he stood beside Mother Nature.

"Jack Frost. I don't believe we met. I am Sephtis." He bowed low and flashed a mischievous grin. "I do believe we have something in common."

"And that would be?"

"An incurable prankster mindset. A need to make things messy."

"I think you take it a little too far." Jack retorted as he held out his staff.

"Oh. Should I be offended?" Sephtis asked with a childish tone. "But I didn't come here to make new friends. Nature has something I need." Sephtis directed his gaze towards Mother Nature who furrowed her eyebrows, a look a sheer hatred on her face as she glared at Sephtis.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She spoke through clenched teeth.

"I know you do." Sephtis said, his lips curling into a smile. "You'd better not make this difficult. I don't want it to end terrible for you."

"Yes you do." Mother Nature spat.

"Should I make it easier for you? I need your staff. _The_ staff. The staff you use to keep yourself immortal." Sephtis sauntered up to Mother Nature.

Jack scoffed. "You'd think she'd give that up so easily?" Wait, he didn't know Mother Nature had a staff that kept her alive.

Sephtis didn't turn to face Jack and kept his eyes trained on Nature. "Of course. She knows what's at stake."

"And what is at stake, _Sephtis?_ A false threat? Some sort of thing to get me running? Is this because you hate Spring?" Mother Nature said as the corner of her mouth quirked up into a smirk.

Sephtis growled. "Don't play stupid. Just give me the staff."

"You mean this staff?" Mother Nature asked as she held out a hand behind her back. A smoothed out staff with flowers growing around it flew into Mother Nature's staff. She held it out, the end with a carved crystal facing Sephtis.

He laughed and used one hand to lower the staff. "You think I'm scared of you and your props? No, I meant this staff..." He held out a rotting version of the staff Mother Nature used to own. The ancient carvings that used to glow brightly were dimming with every second that passed by.

"How did you...?" Mother Nature said, a horrified look overcoming her expression.

"You really are terrible at hiding things. And I knew that you would make the decoy look like something you would use." Sephtis smiled evilly. "And really? That looks like something from a fairytale." He mocked disappointment before placing a hand on the fake staff and watching with delight as it disintegrated out of Mother Nature's grip.

"What are you going to do with that?" She asked, fear shaking her tone.

Sephtis looked at the staff. He hummed thoughtfully. "Y'know, I'm not quite sure yet." He sauntered over to Jack and placed an arm around the Frost Sprite's shoulder. Sephtis gasped. "I know! Tell me Jack, have you heard about what happens to Nature if you use an infected staff against her?"

Mother Nature's eyes grew wide. She backed away from Sephtis, but was stopped when two mold beings sprang up from the ground and roughly held down Mother Nature. Jack was about to attack Sephtis when two more large looking mold beings held him down. One mold being held Jack's staff.

"No! Let me go! The Nature requires me to be here! It can't run without me!" Mother Nature yelled as she writhed around.

Sephtis smiled evilly as he looked down at Mother Nature. "Oh, I'm sure it can function without you, just, not as Nature. It would be more like... Rot."

 **Mwahahahaha! Let your evil imaginations run wild! Also, I'm not into the name Decay. Tell me if you guys have any suggestions.**

 **Daringwolf2000: Awww! You're awesome! Thank you for the loyal support!**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: I'll keep the suggestions in mind! If you have any other suggestions, feel free to leave them in the Reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 3_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

"You're an idiot! If you leave the whole world to rot, then you'll kill all the sources of food! Animals will have nowhere to have a home! Humans won't have any food!" Mother Nature yelled as she kicked around. The mold creatures were burning her skin, causing pain to spread throughout her arms.

"And it will be all your fault." Sephtis **(this is Decay with a new name)** said as he smirked.

Nature stopped squirming around to look behind Sephtis and towards Jack. She jerked her head towards the splintery remains of the decoy staff. Jack lightly shook his head, showing that he had to clue what Mother Nature was doing. Mother Nature squirmed again, giving up on Jack actually helping her.

Sephtis grabbed a handful of Mother Nature's ebony black hair and pulled on it sharply, forcing the defenseless wielder of nature to look at him.

"You're so helpless. So defenseless. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see you like this." Sephtis gave a crooked smile. "I must admit that it was disappointing how easy it was to take over your... Empire, but that doesn't matter."

"You're a fool." Mother Nature snapped.

"No! You're the fool and you'll pay for your insolence!" In a fit of rage, Sephtis knelt so he could look Mother Nature in the eye. He held Nature's shoulder with one hand and with the other, he tapped the tip of the staff against Mother Nature's chest.

"What are you doing?!" Jack nearly yelled the question as he watched Mother Nature's hair turn a sickly grey. Her skin was slowly converting to a pale.

"Getting rid of a pest." Sephtis growled. "Do you know what that means, Jack? It means that Mother Nature _dies."_

Jack's eyes widened in fear. He narrowed his eyes at Sephtis and hung his head in shame. There was nothing he could do. But if he didn't do something, Mother Nature could die!

What could he do?

Then, a funny thought, hilarious even, occurred to him.

"Hey buddy." Jack said to the mold being holding his staff.

"I think you look beautiful today." Jack snickered.

The mold being growled as it stomped over to Jack. "What did you say to me, bub?" It said in a deep voice.

"I said you looked beautiful today. And so does your mom." Jack smiled.

"Why you little..." The mold being picked up Jack by the throat.

"I'm gonna make you pay for insulting my momma!" The mold being threatened.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jack said as he held up his staff. He took no time to blast the being with ice.

"You idiots!" Sephtis barked as he shot up from the place where he knelt. He turned around to face Jack.

"You do like to meddle, don't you."

"You said it yourself. I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to create a mess." Jack smirked.

"You think you're so clever." Sephtis growled before attacking Jack with a black blob of rot from the staff.

"Why do you want Nature dead?!" Jack yelled as he attacked Sephtis with a blast of ice.

"It's none of your business!" Sephtis barked.

"Well at least you have one thing in common."

"Shut up!" Sephtis yelled as he attacked again. Jack countered with a blast of ice that knocked Sephtis back to the window.

The two immortal teenagers dualed again, causing ice and rot to decimate the room. Jack turned to look at Mother Nature who lay limply on the floor. She looked like she was returning to normal, but she didn't look good at all. Jack knew that he had to get Mother Nature out of here.

Jack used his staff to make a thick wall of ice to separate him and Sephtis. He raced over to where Mother Nature was lying, picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. He ran over to the other side of the room and searched for the door to the spiral staircase.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Sephtis asked as he materialized from a patch of mold in front of Jack.

"Getting Nature somewhere safe!" Jack yelled as he attacked Sephtis with his staff.

"Oh, I know what you're doing." Sephtis laughed, stopping his attacks. "You're trying to be her _little hero,_ so that she'll _like you."_ Sephtis laughed. "It won't work, you know."

"No! I'm saving Nature because the world won't survive without her!" Jack yelled as he let an especially powerful attack that sent Sephtis through the bay window.

Jack took this opportunity to escape through the window. He jumped out the window with Mother Nature in hand. The wind picked him and Nature up and kept them in the air.

"Let's get out of here!" Jack determined and the Wind took him far away from the castle.

 **Yay! They're safe... For now. *insert small but creepy laugh in here* These chapters feel short... I'm not sure.**

 **Daringwolf2000: Thank you for the suggestion! I'll keep the name in mind for the other little henchman I have in mind.**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: I hope it isn't bad that I got my inspiration from Mandrake. He's kinda cool. And thank you for the suggestions! I'll try and see if I can include as many as I can!**


	4. Chapter 4

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 4_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Mother Nature squirmed at the uncomfortable cold that she felt. She let out an annoyed grunt before sitting up.

"Where am I? Why does my head hurt so much?" She asked out loud. Her vision cleared and she found herself in a cave of sorts.

"What?" She questioned and tried to stand. She stumbled though and a fell to her knees. A pulsing headache suddenly appeared and Mother Nature had to stop and take a breath. She spotted the mouth of the cave and crawled over as best as she could. She drank in the warm sunshine and smiled.

She inhaled the smell of earth after a rainstorm and stopped to ponder.

'I'm supposed to bring the rainstorms.' She thought to herself and stared out of the cave. There was a clearing of sorts surrouded by tall trees. She knew that she was still in the Empire, but this was far away from her castle.

Her castle...

Mother Nature let out a groan. Sephtis probably lay waste to the castle and was now using it for his own purposes.

How could she have been so stupid?! She completely fell into Sephtis' trap! She almost died thanks to her rashness.

But wait... How did she escape and find herself in this cave?

She turned around and scanned the cave behind her. Jack was lying against the wall of the cave, his arms crossed over his staff.

Mother Nature furrowed her eyebrows.

Of all the people to save her, it had to be Jack?

Who cares if she was just saved, Jack had no right to come barging into _her_ Empire. He had no right snooping into _her_ problems. And who cared if Jack could've saved her life? Did that matter to her?

Absolutely not. Jack should've stayed in his own little world. He should've stayed in the place where everything was hunky dory.

Yet, secretly, she was grateful.

"How did you get all the way over there?" Jack stayed drowsily as he stirred from his resting place. He grabbed his staff and held it in the crook of his arm before shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Like how all people walk over to the mouth of the cave." Mother Nature retorted, but felt as if it were extremely rude to say such a thing. She didn't apologize, though.

"So you can still move. You look a little better." Jack observed as he stretched and walked over to where Mother Nature was sitting.

"Yay. I need something to eat." She struggled to stand and nearly fell before Jack caught her. A bright red tinted Mother Nature's cheeks. She brushed it off and rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine." She assured herself and stood. She brushed off the dark green skirt she always wore and straitened the brown corset she wore over the light green elbow length ling sleeved shirt.

She cleared her throat before limping out of the cave.

"You look like you need help." Jack said.

"I'm fine." Mother Nature waved off the comment before looking at her surroundings. She stepped out the grass, wiggling her bare toes in the green blades. She took a long, deep breath before placing her hands on her hips.

"I know exactly where we are... It will take me one hour and twenty seven point six minutes to get me where I need to go." Mother Nature stayed as she looked around.

"Us." Jack added.

"What?"

"You meant it will take _us_ one hour and twenty seven point six minutes to get _us_ where _we_ need to go." Jack said as he walked over to Mother Nature.

She scoffed. "Let's get one thing straight. There is no us. There will never be an us."

Jack shook his head. "I'm not the girl limping around saying that 'she's fine'. The way I look at it, you need someone to help you around."

"I don't need anyone to 'help me around'. I can deal with myself." Mother Nature said as she glared at Jack. The throbbing headache had returned again, but it was worse.

"So where are we going?"

" _I_ am going someplace."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Obviously. Can you tell me where-"

Mother Nature held up a finger to shush the Winter Sprite. "Just- just...stop talking. You're talking really loudly." She whispered and massaged the sides of her head.

"I'm barely talking above a whisper!"

"You're still talking loudly. Stop talking." She stumbled forward again, nearly falling to the ground this time. Jack had barely caught her. This time she didn't resist the help and leaned against Jack's shoulder.

"I'm helping you no matter what now. Okay?" Jack said and Mother Nature painfully nodded, a grimace present on her face.

"Will you be okay, Nature?"

She slowly nodded again.

"Will you be able to tell me which way to go?"

Another slow nod.

"Are you just nodding to make me shut up?"

Yet another slow nod.

"That's what I thought. We'd better get going." Jack walked off to where Mother Nature pointed and the two hobbled off together.

"So where exactly are we headed?" Jack asked.

"A house...sort of. It was my home before the castle was built." Mother Nature whispered quietly.

"How long have you lived here?"

"In my Empire? Ever since I could remember. It could be a lot longer than that, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't remember when I first came here. It could have happened when I became Mother Nature, but I don't remember anything about that."

Jack stared at Mother Nature oddly. "What do you mean you don't remember when you became Mother Nature? How could you not remember that?"

"I just don't, Frost. Not everyone's like you." She spat out.

"But everyone knows how they became who they were! How are you different?"

"I just am, okay? I don't remember who I am and... I don't have anyone who believes in me."

Jack looked even more confused. "What? But you're a-"

"No, I'm not a Guardian! As much as you people say that, it's not true! If I were a Guardian, I'd be long gone by now! No one believes in me!"

"But-"

"Don't say that you've heard of how I was chosen and all the stories you've heard from Bunny about how I'm such a great Guardian. I'm not." Mother Nature sounds sad, bitter almost.

"We're almost there." She swiftly changed the subject and looked upwards. "Just past these trees and we'll be there."

"I don't see anything." Jack looked at the mass of trees and greenery.

"That's because I hid it, Frost. I'm hated more than you think." She wrenched herself from Jack's grip and walked over to a certain tree. She let out a bird-like whistle and two seconds later, a gigantic elk trotted over to where Mother Nature was standing.

Jack looked stunned as he watched the elk nudge Mother Nature's shoulder. She smiled smiled while petting the elk's muzzle.

"Solace says he doesn't like your staring."

"'He'? You can understand what they're saying?"

Mother Nature made a face. "Of course. Solace and I are the best of friends ever since he helped me with my home."

"What?" Jack asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Keep up Frost. C'mon Solace. I need tea." Mother Nature said as she leaned against the elk. She walked off and Jack followed behind.

 **I have basically made my OC an awesome girl who controls the weather and the flowers and she has an elk. Could she be more awesome?**

 **daringwolf2000: Thank you! I think you'll like the henchman I have planned. I like him and he's not a cowardly idiot, like so many Disney henchman.**


	5. Chapter 5

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 5_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Mother Nature came upon a wall of ferns. She waved aside the wall and the ferns slowly parted. Mother Nature walked inside, not even bothering to close up the entrance.

Jack furrowed his eyebrows at Mother Nature's clumsiness. He followed after her, making sure to close the entrance with a slab of ice.

He turned around and what he saw took his breath away. Animals of every kind were in he vast expanse of clearing. A small infirmary covered with a handmade leaf canopy contained animals of every size and type. Beside the infirmary were small beds and hammocks made literally out of clouds. Beside the resting place was a small hideaway that contained a mess of containers, books and writing utensils all piled up onto a desk.

"Stop trying to be intimidating, Bunny!" Mother Nature cried out as she stumbled over to the messy desk.

"I've only got one question." An infamous (at least to Jack) Australian accent said as he pushed himself off the wall of thick ferns and strode over to stand on between Jack and Nature. "Two, actually: You've got a _wolf_ helping ya in your sanctuary?" Bunny pointed his boomerang towards the grey wolf who was helping a mouse to clean off some of the mold it had been attacked with.

"What're you doing here?" Jack asked Bunny as he looked slightly offended.

"And more importantly: what is he doing here?" Bunny asked with obvious distaste.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Blizzard of '64. And don't insult Luna. She's loyal and she would never do anything to offend me." Nature added as she flicked through an old book.

"Yeah, and let's not forget the fact that I saved Nature from Sephtis. Did you do anything to help Nature, Bunny?" Jack asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave Bunny a know-it-all look.

The Easter Bunny rolled his eyes before strolling over to where Nature sat. "Aren't ya going to do something about this, Terra? I thought-"

"I thought we agreed to not use my name, Bunny." She replied as she looked up from her book. "No one else needs to know who I am. Especially _him."_ Nature glared at Jack who was poking an empty cloud bed with his foot.

 _"_ Ya can't just sit by and do absolutely nothing, Nature." Bunny whispered, his tone solemn.

"I know that. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do."

"Ya could actually ask for help for once."

"I don't need the Guardians' help. I can do this by myself." Nature fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt.

"You're not looking so well." Bunny observed as he looked at Nature's exhausted expression.

"I'm fine." Nature snapped, but immediately felt guilty for the rude answer. "I'm sorry, Bunny." She muttered after letting out a sigh.

"Ya can't do this by yourself, Nature."

"Yes I can. I've faced harder things."

"But your life hasn't been on the line like this."

"So it's an even greater reason for me to fight."

Bunny shook his head and chuckled to himself. "I forgot how stubborn ya could be." He turned around to see Jack goofing off with a couple off squirrels that had caught his attention. "I bet ya haven't even thanked him yet, have you?"

Mother Nature nearly slammed shut the book she was reading. "For what? Barging into my Empire? If I thank him, for anything Bunny, he'll become cocky and arrogant. I'm not going to deal with that."

Bunny faintly sighed, remembering well now how stubborn Mother Nature was. He decided to switch the subject. "So what's your plan?"

"I have to finish bringing Spring. After that, I'll go to Santoff Claussen."

"Where the wizard is?"

"Exactly."

Bunny scoffed. "So you're gonna go to some wizard for help, but ya won't ask the Guardians for help?"

"I'm not asking the wizard for help. I'm just going to gather so information from him."

"And when do ya plan on doing this?"

"As soon as I can."

"Are ya planning on actually taking a rest? Ya look terrible."

"I can't risk losing any time. I have to set out as soon as I can." Mother Nature stood up and stuffed a few books into her flowery satchel.

Bunny set his paws on Nature's shoulders and look earnestly into the girl's emerald green eyes. "Listen to me, you little ankle-biter. If ya push yourself too hard out there, ya aren't gonna be protecting the nature for much longer. Ya need to take it easy. Stay here in the Sanctuary for the night. Alright?"

Nature nodded. "But I'm not an ankle-biter." She reminded with a smile.

"Of course ya are." Bunny smirked.

"Thank you, Bunny."

"Keep saying that to yourself, Nature. Maybe you'll get used to saying it."

Nature scoffed. "Yeah right." She sighed. "I better help these animals. Some of them have been affected by the mold." And with that, she walked off, ready to provide any assistance to the helpless animals.

 **I promise that the other Guardians will make appearances. :) I just needed to establish some plot before moving on. Not sure how I did with Bunny's character in this one though. Tell me what you think :)**

 **Winteril (Guest): Aww! Thank you! It's so nice to get reviews like that!**

 **Daringwolf2000: Yeah, he's gonna be a cool henchman. I'm excited for when he'll appear.**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: Like I said, the Guardians will appear in time. I just need to establish some plot before completely diving in. :) thank you for the suggestions :)**


	6. Chapter 6

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 6_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Nature took a deep breath as she ran through the remaining list of things to bring along. Bunny had left the Sanctuary so he continue his preparations for Easter.

Nature looked a little better today. Her natural powers were still weak and affected little things, but after a night of rest, Nature looked less exhausted. She still felt like she could sleep for an eternity, but she couldn't deny that she felt better.

"So I've been thinking..." Jack started as he walked up to where Nature was organizing her stuff.

"Well it's about time you've started thinking." Nature muttered to herself.

Jack ignored the rude comment. "You'll need someone to help you if Sephtis attacks again."

Nature groaned and stood to face Jack. "For the last time, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

"But what if, Nature?"

"Why do you care, Frost?"

"Because if you died, that'd be giving Sephtis exactly what he wants! You can't let him win! If he does, the world will be drastically changed! Doesn't that mean something to you?!"

"Yes, it does! But it's not like I'm going into a war or a battle."

"You might cause one!"

"Get to the point, Frost." Nature snapped, quickly becoming annoyed with the Frost sprite's infuriating behavior.

"Well I was going to _ask_ if I could help, but now that you're being stupid, I'm definitely coming along!" Jack said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"But I didn't invite you to come along!" Nature grabbed her satchel of miscellaneous items.

"No, you didn't. I invited myself!"

Nature slung the bag over her shoulder, hitting Jack in the process. "I guess you're coming along then!"

"Great!" Jack turned around so he could glare at Nature.

"I know it's great."

"I'm glad you know!"

"I'm glad you're glad!"

"Great!" Was what Jack said as Nature said: "Fine!" The two teenagers hadn't realized that they had been glaring at each other with only a few inches separating the two of them.

Nature was the first to notice this. She immediately felt her face heat in embarrassment. She turned away, praying that Jack hadn't seen her like this. She shook it off and walked away.

Jack smirked at Nature's reaction, knowing exactly what had happened. "A little embarrassed, _Terra_?"

Nature whipped around and glared at Jack. " _What_ did you say?"

"Yes, I do know your name." Jack said in an almost arrogant tone.

"Why you little eavesdropper!" Nature clenched her jaw.

"Relax. I was going to say that it's a pretty name." No hint of joke or mischief could be heard in Jack's tone as he smiled genuinely.

Nature's face did its best to imitate a freshly rip tomato as she stared at Jack in disbelief.

"U-um, I... I think th-that I have t-t-to get a few more thi-things and I'll be ready to go." She stuttered nervously, quickly nodded and escaped the awkward situation, only to realize that what she needed was back over where Jack was standing.

"I'll get it later." She determined with a nervous gulp. The wielder of nature busied herself with filling Solace's saddle bag with the needed supplies. She took a breath, trying to calm her nervous spirit and mentally scolded herself for acting so stupid.

Bunny jumped up from one of his tunnels and into North's workshop the tunnel closed behind him, leaving a tiny pink flower behind.

The Easter Bunny looked around him. He seemed to have arrived near the globe room.

After a little wandering around, Bunny bumped into a couple of yetis, who despite Christmas being past for three months, were still making toys.

'I guess that's what happens when ya have ta make toys for billions of children.' Bunny guessed as he walked through the toy shop.

"Hey, North!" Bunny called out as he searched for the bringer of Christmas.

"Ah, Bunny!" The man with a snow-white beard and a thick Russian accent peeked over the rim of the tallest floor in the Workshop. "What brings you here?" North asked as the elevator sort of contraption transported him down to the floor Bunny was on.

"I've come ta ask a little favor." Bunny spoke in a serious tone. "Terra's not doin so well. I just need some backup in case anything bad happens."

"Terra? You mean Mother Nature? What has happened?"

"Sephtis returned and Terra doesn't remember how dangerous he is. She's completely blowing off the issue."

"She does not remember? Have we tried the teeth?" North pondered as he stroked his beard.

Bunny shook his head. "I've already tooth for Terra's teeth. She doesn't even have 'em."

"So this can only mean one thing..."

"Something stole Terra's teeth." Bunny finished the guess.

"But who would steal teeth?"

"Pitch would."

"Pitch has not been seen since Jack became Guardian."

"So, we can rule 'im out. Besides, why would Pitch want Terra's chompers?"

"Correct. So who can be left?" North asked himself as he began to pace around the room.

"There's no one that'd actually make sense." Bunny's nose twitched as he tried to think.

"Is Nature by herself?" North asked, switching the subject.

Bunny scoffed. "You'd think I'd leave the ankle-biter by herself? No! As much as he annoys me, Frost is 'elping her."

"Good. At least she has someone to protect her."

"Right. For now, I think I need to continue gettin' ready for Easter. If anything comes up about the chompers, I'll let ya know."

North nodded. "And I will have yetis ready in case Nature gets into trouble."

 **I love writing the Guardians ^.^ I can't wait to write Sandy and Tooth. That's gonna be great. I also loved writing that little scene with Jack and Nature. It makes me smile :)**

 **Daringwolf2000: I'm excited to write more of the Guardians into this story. They're super fun to write! And thank you! I kinda have trouble when it comes to writing people with accents.**


	7. Chapter 7

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 7_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

The mold being smelled into the dank throne room. Sitting on the throne made of twisted and rotting tree roots was Sephtis. He sat low on the throne, his arms readying on the roots that acted as arm rests. In one hand was a now black staff that belonged to Nature. Sephtis' grip on the staff was firm as frowned, his dark grey eyes filled with anger and impatience.

"What is it, Kurse?" Sephtis growled.

"I come with news, sir." The mold being kneeled.

"Of what?" Sephtis spat the question.

"Terra, sir."

Sephtis sat up straight, showing he was intrigued. "Oh? And what would this 'news' be?"

"The girl is traveling with the Frost Child. She is planning the wizard in Santoff Claussen."

Sephtis burst out laughing. "The wizard? The Last Atlantian? Why in the name of all that's ugly is she consulting him?"

"She was extremely vague."

Sephtis deadpanned. "She's traveling with Frost?"

"Yes sir."

"Why?"

"He insisted."

"Of course he did." Sephtis growled. "Is she traveling to Santoff Claussen as we speak?"

"No, sir. She was quite stupid and revealed most of her plans."

"I don't feel sorry for her. Where is she headed at the moment?"

"She seems to be gathering reports from the forests."

An evil smirk spread in Sephtis' face. "She has a surprise waiting for her then."

* * *

"Why did you bring your gigantic elk if you're not going to ride it?" Jack asked as the two teenagers walked through a still teen section of the Empire. They had been walking for a few hours and the sun was just beginning to set.

"Solace helps me carry everything and he'll provide transportation for animals effected by Sephtis's rot. Plus, he comes in hand when I need someone else to talk to." Nature grinned as she walked beside the large elk with a tan coat and enormous, white antlers.

"You can talk to animals?" Jack looked at Nature as if she had gone insane.

Nature placed her hands on her hips. "Yes. Yes I can. You can't talk to your snowflakes."

"No, that'd be weird. Almost as weird as talking to animals." Jack teased with a mischievous smile.

"You're just jealous." Nature stayed with a straight face.

"Of what? Being crazy?" Jack laughed.

"I'm not crazy!" Nature cried out.

"Whatever you say, _Terra."_ Jack jumped onto the air. He floated in front of Nature and looked at her as he hung upside down.

"Look, I don't want you throwing around my name like it's confetti." Nature stopped walking and stood in the middle of the forest. A gentle breeze blew back the black hair from her face. She had a determined look in her eyes and her lips were set in a thin line.

Jack rose an eyebrow in confusion. "Do you not like your name?"

"You wouldn't understand." She replied, a small sigh escaping her lips. "We'd better set up camp. It's getting dark." She plopped down and pounded both of her fists into the ground, making a small tent of earth to cover her head. She curled up into a little ball; the cloak she had been wearing for the past few days acting as her blanket. She quickly dozed off, still quite exhausted from her encounter with Sephtis.

* * *

 _The little girl giggled in delight as she ran through the field filled with unusual looking purple flowers._

 _"It's a game of hide and seek! If I can't find a place to hide, I lose." She told herself, looking around. There weren't really any places to hide..._

 _Unless..._

 _She jumped it to the air, letting the wind carry her. She giggled at her ingenious idea Dan waited for her father (the person who was 'seeking')._

 _"Now where did you go?" The little girl could hear her father as he walked over to where she had previously flown into the air. She suppressed a giggle and continued to watch._

 _Her father was a taller man with black hair that matched his daughter's. He almost always wore armor that consisted of mainly gold and blue. He was completely clueless as he confusedly looked around._

 _The girl could no longer keep back the giggles. She let one slip but immediately covered her mouth afterwards._

 _Her father looked up, his silver eyes filling with delight. "Hah!" –he laughed– "I found you!"_

 _The girl giggles as she looked at her father. "How did you ever know?"_

 _Her father reached up and grabbed his daughter. "You made it extremely difficult. Although I do believe you cheated a little." He laughed once more as he held his daughter._

 _"I didn't cheat! I found a place to hide!" She determined with a nod._

 _"But I can't fly!" Her father chuckled._

 _"And I can't use gold sand, so we're even!"_

 _"I don't think it works like that, Terra." He said before continuing his walk through the field._

 _Terra turned to look at the locket hanging around her father's neck. She had the same one with the exact same picture, hidden underneath her lavender dress. She picked up the locket her father had and opened it up, staring at the picture that she almost always looked at._

 _It was a picture of her and her father. Both had a smile on their faces. Terra had the locket in her hands and was smiling as her father held her._

 _Terra then looked up at the sky above her. It was peppered with stars. Galaxies and planets were strung up in the inky blackness as well. It was a beautiful sight._

 _"Papa, what kind of planets are out there?" She would ask that question every time she looked up to see the sky._

 _"Well," –her father would begin– "There are many planets. There are planets with different looking people, and there are planets that have people who look like us."_

 _"But what about Earth, Papa. I want to know about Earth."_

 _Her father would laugh. "Well, Earth is a place with people who looks like us. They don't have unique abilities like us, though. We have to protect them from the Fearlings."_

 _She would always hug her father just a little bit tighter when he said 'Fearlings'. "But don't you have to protect us from the Fearlings?" She would ask._

 _"Of course. But the humans on Earth can't protect themselves from the Fearlings like we can." Her father would say and Terra would respond with a relieved smile._

 _"I'm happy I have a Papa like you." She would say and then hug her father._

 _"And I'm fortunate to have a daughter like you, Terra." He would say and then the two would continue to converse in unrelated subjects..._

* * *

Nature blinked her eyes awake and stared at the dirt walls of the tent she made. The dream... No, it was a nightmare. No matter how happy it could be, it reminded her of the life she would never have.

A happy life.

She didn't know what to make of the nightmare. Was it a nightmare? Or was it a memory.

Either way, she didn't want to think about it.

She crawled out of the tent and wandered over to where Solace was resting. The elk jerked his head up, suspecting something was wrong."

"It's alright Solace. I'm getting a snack." She said to herself and opened the bag filled with supplies. After rummaging around, she found her favorite snack (which were sugar snap peas) and began munching away. She breathed out a peaceful sigh and then-

She tensed. Beside her she could feel a force that felt oddly familiar, but she had never felt the force before.

And then it went away. A chill came over Nature and she pulled the hood over her head. She tensed again.

There it was again. This time there was a whisper. " _Terra."_ She could hear it say her name.

She jumped to her feet. There were only two people (that she knew of) who knew her name. Whoever was doing this, knew something, or was spying on her.

She wasn't going to take her chances. She left the snacks behind and raced after the whispers, not thinking about the possibility of Jack worrying about her being alone.

 **Whew! I was so close to being another victim to the infamous writer's block. Obviously I overcame it :)**

 **Daringwolf2000: Aw thanks!**

 **Winteril: Thank you for the advice! I will use it whenever I can! Thank you also for the compliments! I really love it when I get those in the reviews :) and you should totally post that 20k plus Fanfiction! I'd totally read that! Heh heh. I have a lot in mind for Sephtis. He's got to be my favorite villain that I've made.**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: Aw thanks! Keep those suggestions running! I really love all the things you suggest!**

 **toothiana123: I kinda got inspiration for Sephtis from Mandrake. I hope that's not bad X)**


	8. Chapter 8

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 8_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Nature looked around her to see the dark forest surrounding her. She hadn't realized how creepy it was at night. She now slowed to a walking pace, realizing now that the whispers from whatever she was following hadn't died down at all.

She bit her lip in a flustered manner before looking around her once more.

"A stupid forest shouldn't scare you, Terra." She told herself and could almost feel the moon brighten.

She needed to figure out what this thing was. It could have answers. Answers to why she couldn't remember anything, answers to who she actually was...

Real answers.

Not just taking someone's word for it.

The thought gave a feeling of relief to Nature. She was almost grinning as she walked through the Empire.

The whispers were getting louder. The smile disappeared from Nature's face. She stooped down and placed an ear to the ground. Whoever was calling to her was actually flying!

She jumped to her feet and made a yanking motion with her arms, almost as if she was pulling at a rope. The wind gusted in her face. She laced her fingers together and clenched her fists. Through the moonlight, she could see the branches of the trees twist towards her offender.

Once the trees brought back the offender, Nature lunged towards the person, her hands held high, ready for attack.

She was caught off guard when some unseen force attacked her, sending her several feet back. She forced out a cough, having the wind knocked out of her lungs.

"Terra..." The voice whispered.

"How do you know my name?!" Nature cried out as she willed the trees to attack for her. The voice only continued to whisper her name, as if it were taunting her.

She was fed up now. She borrowed a little light from the moon and cast it over the offender, causing it to writhe and hiss in pain. Nature looked at the creature through the tight cage of tree branches. The being was an inky blackness with hands that contained long, spindly fingers. It didn't have any legs, though, just one long tail that eventually disappeared.

It had eyes. They were just gaps with nothing to fill them, but Nature could see how terrified and saddened they looked. The sight of the creature made Nature afraid.

And then it made her angry.

All her hopes built up, only for them to be decimated. She let out a growl and made the cage that held the being to be made smaller. The being hissed in complaint.

She would come back in the morning and take the being with her. Nature would then show the wizard the being and would ask the wizard what in the world the being could be.

But for now, she would return to the camp and try to capture some sleep.

* * *

As Nature walked into the camp, she let out an exasperated sigh. Jack sat, perched on his staff.

"Where did you run off to?" Jack asked, watching Nature trudge over to her tent.

"Mm..." She hummed and waves off the question. She droppedto her knees and would have crawled into the tent were it on for the wall of ice that Jack had made.

"Frost!" -she cried out- "I'm tired! I need to sleep." She complained before flopping down on her side and shielded her face from any light.

"You didn't even get any sleep, did you?" Jack sounded disappointed and angry.

"What does it matter to you, Frosty?" She grumbled.

"I'm serious, Nature! What if-"

She sat up. "What if Sephtis attacked? Well, he didn't! You don't have to worry about me! There's no need for 'what ifs' and assumptions! I was fine, I am fine, end of story!"

"If I don't worry about you, who will?"

"That doesn't matter! I can take care of myself." She fumed. She was about to continue in her rant when something cold and wet disintegrated when it hit her back.

"What in the world, Frost?!" She whipped around and glared at Jaxk who was still perched on his staff, but he wore an amused look.

"Hunh, that normally works." He said, his head cocked to the side.

"Sp you thought I would suddenly be overjoyed when you hit me with a snowball in middle of the night?!" She hissed the question and looked around to see the lack of snow. "How did you even get those?!"

"I happen to be a very talented person." Jack smirked.

Nature seethed. "Well this is what I think about your 'talent'." She scooped up the leftover snow from the snowball Jack had bombarded her with. She chucked the the snowball towards Jack and watched as it hit him in the face, catching him off-guard and making him fall off his staff.

She let out a condescending laugh as she pointed an accusative finger.

"Hey!" He cried out before attacking Nature with more snowballs.

Nature yelped before creating a small fort out of earth. She grabbed the previous snow and began forming her artillery.

"Okay, that's not fair!"

"You're the one with the infinite snowballs!" Nature replied, a small smile lighting up her face.

"Oh don't cheat!" Jack said as he threw Nature a snowball that hit her in the face. The Frost Sprite winced and hid behind his staff.

"Jack! You made my nose bleed!" Nature cried out before making a mad dash to her saddlebags.

A look of worry flashed across Jack's face. He raced over to Nature, who was rummaging through her saddle bags with one hand and pinching her nose with the other. "Are you- are you okay?"

She waved off the question before pulling a handkerchief from the bags. Nature used it to soak up the blood from her nose and she took a deep breath.

"Yes, I'm fine." She nodded.

And then Nature did something she never thought she ever do again.

She burst laughed.

 **Leave it up to me to have deleted my chapters so I had to write it all over again. I have recovered though but my violin is personally holding a grudge against me XD thank you to Winteril to inform me of such things. Teaches you a lesson kids make sure you check your chapters before you post them.**

 **Daringwolf2000: Yeah, he's a good henchman. And yeah, Nature, why are you being rude? Nature (in the distance): I don't know, it's your story.**

 **Winteril: Thank you for that :) I really do appreciate it. And I liked that review style!**


	9. Chapter 9

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 9_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Sephtis growled as he trudged through the musty castle. Kurse was away, spying on Mother Nature. Sephtis was all alone in the castle.

Normally, he would have gratefully accepted and enjoyed the silence, but today was different. Today, he was agitated, irritated, and downright annoyed.

It was that _Terra._ Her existence drove him through the roof. Terra and her stupid growth and spreading new life and hope. It made Sephtis sick.

He would have relished in the fact that he had managed to steal the staff that kept her life consistent, and that he had invaded her Empire. Today, the subject only made him even more infuriated. He was so close to finally destroying her; so close to destroying the one thing that kept him from having complete control over all of nature.

And then that _special snowflake_ had to barge in and ruin everything. Unknowingly, the Frost child had made himself an enemy of Sephtis, and the Guardian would pay dearly for doing so.

Sephtis huffed a breath and plodded over the pillar in the center. It was now covered in blurbs of mold and rotting plants. The door was holding onto its hinges for dear life and hung wide open.

Sephtis trudged up the spiral staircase and found the room just as he had left it two days ago. Patches of ice and mold were scattered throughout the room and the splintered remains of the fake staff still laid on the floor.

The only thing that was different about the room was the large butterfly sitting on the edge of the broken window. It had gold wings that gradually changed into deep purple.

The sight of the butterfly made Septhis go ballistic. He blasted the butterfly with a blob of mold, but it barely escaped and frantically flew away.

Sephtis let out an almost animalistic sort of growl and stormed down the stairs. He slammed the door at the bottom shut, not even smirking when it nearly collapsed off his hinges.

Whoever had sent him that butterfly would soon regret doing so, for the butterfly made him remember his past, and that was not something he wished to remember.

* * *

Jack stared at the teenager sitting across from him, a look of disbelief written all over his face.

Through her pinched nose, Nature was giggling. The laughing had begun with a small giggle that had eventually exploded into a full blown laugh. He couldn't believe it.

Jack had actually made her laugh! He had never seen her laugh before!

"What are you looking at?" Nature said through giggles.

"You're...laughing." He stated, still in a state of utter disbelief.

"Oh." She ceased from the spurt of giggles and stood.

"What's the problem?" Jack questioned.

"Nothing. We'd better get moving. The sun is coming up."

"Right." Jack nodded and jumped to his feet.

"We just have to stop a little ways ahead and then I can use my portals to transport us to the next forest."

"So why did we stop here?" Jack questioned.

"I had to make sure where the boundaries of the mold was. After we make this stop ahead, I'll be sure. Then we can go." Nature nodded and held out both arms. She lowered them, causing her earth tent to disappear back into the ground.

"I think I'm ready to go." She stifled a yawn and trotted over to where Solace was standing, ready to go. She pet the elk and began walking away.

"You coming?" She questioned, a faint smile twitching the sides of her mouth.

Jack shook his head, coming back into reality. "Yeah, I'm coming."

* * *

"What is it?" Jack asked as he looked at the creature hissing as it clawed at the cage.

"It's not a mold being, that much I know. And if it were a mold being, it'd be long gone by now." Nature said, slightly confused. "I'm taking it to Ombric. Maybe he knows something about it." She said, taking out an empty small glass bottle from the saddlebags.

Jack gave her a weird look.

"What? I'm prepared." She stated with a shrug.

"Who carries empty bottles around with them?" Jack asked.

"I do, Frost. There's an insane method to my madness." She retorted and held the bottle up to the creature. It was reluctantly sucked inside. Nature corked the bottle and gingerly placed it into the saddlebags.

"Is this what you were up to last night?" Jack asked, giving Nature a knowledgeable sort of look.

"What does it matter to you, Frost?" Nature retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You could've just told me that. Were you waiting to get it until I was asleep?"

"No."

"So...? You stayed up all night and just happened to find it?"

"Not...exactly."

Jack scoffed. "What does that mean?"

"I don't want to talk about it. It shouldn't matter to you, anyway." She dismissed the conversation and dug through the bags again, this time pulling out a small jar of white, sparkling beans. She threw the bean at the ground and watched as it grew into a spinning vortex.

She and Solace willingly hopped in and Jack followed behind.

Nature landed in a small field that still looked green and healthy. Jack appeared from the portal and stood beside Nature.

"Where are we?" He pondered.

"Well, I don't normally pick my destinations for the forests. My beans decide where I'm needed the most. But from my surroundings, I can tell that we're sixteen miles...southwest from Gainesville, Florida, meaning that we're in Ocala National Park! I love this forest!" Her eyes sparkled in excitement. "It has the most beautiful hidden gems. Come on!" She said with the smallest hint of enthusiasm. She walked off.

Jack hummed thoughtfully. Nature never acted like this...

"I'm not going to wait for you, Frost! We're close though, so you better hurry up!" Nature called.

Jack chuckled and set off to follow after Nature. She stood just below a hill, her hands on her hips.

"I thought you said you weren't going to wait for me." Jack reminded.

"This place requires an introduction." She said with a roll of her eyes. "And now, without further ado," She walked up the hill, speaking in a tour guide's voice. "I welcome you to Juniper Springs in O-" She turned towards the springs, the pleasant look on her face disappearing. "Oh no." She said in a shaky voice as she looked at the springs.

Everything was rotting and covered with mold.

 **Dun-dun-duuuuuun! To be continued...**

 **Winteril: So when you mean strange, it was a good strange as in 'Oh my gosh this is strange, what's gonna happen?' And I love your reaction reviews XD they make me laugh :)**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: oooooooh! I never though as Jack and Terra like Dimitri and Anya. That's like the best way to describe their relationship! And thank you again for the suggestions! I shall keep them in mind :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 10_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

"No." Nature shook her head in disbelief. She bolted down the hill and into the springs, hoping with all her being that what she was seeing wasn't really true.

"Nature!" Jack called out as he raced after Nature.

Nature continued running, glancing this way and that at the decay and death all around her. She prayed that someway, somehow, a small plant was surviving. But no sign of the slightest shade of green could be found anywhere.

She stopped running when she came upon the spring itself. The once crystal clear water was turned a sickly brown and it smelled horrendous.

"How? How could he have damaged this place? It's the largest forest I've created." She squeaked out the question, too shocked to cry.

"You simply underestimate how powerful Sephtis is, _Mother Nature._ " Kurse appeared from a decaying tree. He wore a malevolent smile as he tiptoed closer to Nature.

"Why doesn't he face me himself? Or is he not man enough to fight me?!" Nature barked out the words as she stares at Kurse with eyes filled to the brim with anger.

"Oh, he just doesn't believe you're a worthy opponent. He'd rather you remember how powerful he actually is before facing you again." Kurse taunted and let out a deep chuckle. "How have you been coping ever since the last visit with Sephtis, Nature? Have you been _feeling any different_?"

Nature let out a gasp in pain as she felt a sharp pang in her heart. She put a hand to her chest and breathed short, separated puffs. Kurse laughed.

"I knew it was only a matter of time..." He said, giving an oily smile.

"What do you mean that I had to remember how powerful Sephtis is? I've never met him before." She spoke through clenched teeth.

Kurse gave a look of mock pity. "Oh? You mean you don't remember? Does little Terra not remember her family? Or who she was? Or how she died?"

"Shut up!" Nature yelled.

"Oh, but it's true! Little Terra looks around her, at the Guardians, and she knows they remember all of what happened before they were chosen. But little Terra wishes with _all her heart,_ that she could remember. But she's tried everything. And nothing works."

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" Nature nearly screamed the command as she screwed her eyes shut and clapped her hands over her ears.

"Oh, but I do. I know who you are. I know what makes you tick, I know you're greatest weakness. I know _everything._ Yet, you know nothing. I don't think that's all together fair, is it?" Kurse sat in front of Nature. "So tell me, Terra, who are you?"

"You know who I am." She growled.

Kurse laughed. "Of course I know who you are! You're Mother Nature! But _who_ are you?"

"Stop it! What you're doing won't work." Nature stated.

"Oh? And what am I doing?"

"You're making me want to think; to make me feel worried about myself so that I can't concentrate on saving on saving the other forests." She jumped to her feet but collapsed, the sharp pain piercing her heart.

"He did say you think too much." Kurse said in annoyance. "I would suggest you do remember. It might save your puny life."

"Why do you care?" She spat, a sudden fever overcoming her.

"I'm only telling you what Sephtis instructed me to. You know how he likes games."

"Why are you doing this?" She demanded an answer through clenched teeth, masking the extreme pain she felt.

Kurse scoffed and stopped down to look at Natee in her emerald green eyes. "You mean you don't know? Oh wait, I forgot you don't remember anything. I wonder what that must feel like? To have no recollection of a family, no remembrance of any you loved you. Such a mis-"

Nature cut off Kurse when she made a quick grab for his throat. She clutched it firmly, gritting her teeth as she death-glared Kurse. The mold being only laughed.

"It was a mistake grabbing me." He said, motioning to a patch of skin on Nature's arm that conformed to the sickly gray that she was familiar with.

Nature gasped and pulled back her hand, holding it close to her chest. She growled. "So all you came for was to try to scare me? How pathetic."

"I think you're one to talk, Terra _Pitchiner._ "

Nature growled. "Shut up!" She barked, her face contorted into a sneer.

Kurse mocked a gasp. "So you _do_ remember! But that's the only thing you can remember. You're mother, Lady Aluria, dying right in front of you."

"I told you to shut up!" Nature said yelled the reminder.

"Oh, but it hurts doesn't it? You disobeyed and because of that, you're mother died. Your father probably hates you."

A look of hurt flashed in Nature's eyes. "No," He voice cracked faintly at first. "No, Papa can't hate me..." She whispered.

A twisted smile appeared on Kurse's lips. "But it is. You should know that your father was only thinking of himself when he spoke of not being believed in. He probably wishes that the Moon made you into a Guardian so that he could get rid of you once and for all."

"No." She blinked away tears. "Papa loves me. He took every opportunity to say that."

"But it's all a ruse. Isn't it? You think so yourself. If your father _really_ cared about you, he would have tried to talk to you."

"But after the problem with the Night Mares and the disbelieving children. He hasn't been seen since then. Children almost never have nightmares anymore."

"But he's out there, somewhere, and he hasn't taken the opportunity to say something to you. He really must hate you."

"Stop it, Stop it! How could think something like that?!"

"No, Terra. These aren't my thoughts. They're yours. Admit it."

"No!"

"Admit it, Terra!"

"No! You're planting thoughts into my mind! I can't fall for it!" She clapped her hands over her ears again to block out the sound.

"You're a disappointment, Terra! Everyone thinks you're a worthless little girl who can't fend for herself!"

"I told you to SHUT UP!" She screamed before passing out.

"Mission Accomplished." Kurse muttered with a smirk. He disappeared into a patch of mold, leaving Nature passed out on the ground.

 **I am the biggest jerk of a writer who has ever been placed on this planet. I am just so evil. I feel bad...**

 **Winteril: I am experienced in relieving 'The Look' from my siblings. And it's not just from my siblings. It's everyone in my family. Let's just say I'm the only fangirl in my family. It tends to be interesting XD and I loved your Reaction Review :) I spent hours scouring Pinterest for just the right butterfly**


	11. Chapter 11

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 11_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

"Nature!" Jack yelled for the girl as he struggled against the mold that kept him secured to a rotting tree. The mold appeared out of nowhere and attacked Jack, taking his staff and tossing it away to some unknown place. There was no way that he could escape, for his feet where tied down as well.

"Terra? And " Jack called as he continues the struggle.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her." Sephtis appeared, sitting on a thick branch of a tall tree.

Jack struggled more. "Did you do this to me?!"

"Of course I did, I don't need you meddling with my plans again." Sephtis spoke nonchalantly, with a twinge of pride in his voice.

"What did you do to Terra?" Jack growled the question as he stared down Sephtis.

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" Sephtis said mockingly, not moving from his seat. "As for what I did, well, nothing of great consequence. One may say that some benefit from it. Mainly me, but you never know." He smirked. "Tell me, Frost. Do you know who Terra is?"

"How do you know her name?"

"Answer the question." Sephtis answered impatiently.

"Why? It's a stupid question."

"Answer. The. Question."

"She's Mother Nature, but I'm pretty sure you know that too."

"But who is she? What was she like before becoming Mother Nature?"

"I don't know, she never talks about it."

"Exactly. And do you know how she died?" Sephtis still sounded casual, the subject of death not affecting him.

Jack made a face. "Of course I don't... How do you know?"

"Maybe I was there, maybe I wasn't. But that shouldn't matter to you."

"But it does." Jack squinted at Sephtis, trying to discover what his ulterior motive was.

"...SHUT UP!" Nature's scream could be heard a mile away.

Jack's eyes widened in fear. "Terra! What did you do!?"

"It's none of your business, Frost. But it looks like my work here is done." Sephtis chuckled to himself.

"Sir," Kurse appeared and walked over to the tree Sephtis was sitting in. "It's finished."

"Good. I'm going to return to my castle and bask in how amazing and smart I am." Sephtis jumped from the tree.

"Good luck freeing yourself from that." Kurse taunted and the mold being and his master disappeared.

"Terra! Terra, where are you?!" Jack yelled for his friend as he struggled against the mold. He let out a frustrated growl.

"Where's that elk when you need it?" As if on cue, Solace ran up to Jack. The elk completely forgot the Frost Sprite, however and walked on before sitting in front of Jack.

"So this is how it ends?" Jack grumbled, completely fed up. The elk blinked a few times, staring at Jack inquisitively. Jack hadn't noticed his staff sticking out of the seemingly bottomless saddlebags.

"You really are a smart elk." He muttered, slightly impressed. The elk seemed to give him a 'really?' look. "Give me my staff." Jack enunciated every syllable. The elk responded by taking the staff out of the bag and setting it at its hooves.

"Closer, you dumb animal."

The elk seemed to look a little hurt by Jack's words. He turned his nose up in disgust, almost as if he were telling Jack that he wouldn't do such a thing if Jack hadn't apologized.

Jack gave an impatient sigh. "We're not going anywhere if you don't give me my staff."

'Not until you apologize.' The elk seemed to say.

"I'm apologizing to an elk." He grumbled.

"Solace!" Nature's small, weak voice could be heard as she inched across the forest, clinging to trees for support. Her normally black hair was graying and her skin was turning pale, paler than Jack's even.

"Terra! Uh, Nature!"

"What happened to you?" Nature whispered, holding onto Solace as soon as the elk trotted over.

"What happened to _you_?" Jack asked, still stuck to the tree.

"I... I don't want to talk about it." Jack was expecting a 'None of your business, Frost'. Nature let out a weak cough and trotted over to where Jack stood.

"There's been a change in plans. I have to get to Santoff Claussen as soon as I can."

"Are you sure you're up to it? You don't-"

"I know I don't look good. I think I can tell when I don't look good." She snapped angrily. She kicked the tree and it slowly let go of Jack.

"How did this happen?" She questioned.

"Sephtis did it." A look of worry flashed across Nature's face once she heard Sephtis' name.

"He's still not here, is he?" She asked, worry prominent in her voice.

Jack looked curious of Nature's sudden fear of Sephtis. "No, he disappeared once Kurse arrived."

"I don't want to take any chances." She grumbled and produced a red, sparkling bean from the bags. She threw it at the ground and hopped in with Jack and Solace by her side.

She ended up at the edge of a forest. "Good. Now we just have to get past the Siren and the barrier of plants and-"

"And the bear?" Jack said fearfully as he pointed to a gigantic black bear that was racing towards them.

"Ah yes." Nature said calmly. "The bear."

 **As I write from my grandma's car (I'm waiting for her to finish up with her grocery shopping) I can't help but notice the store behind me is called 'Mother Nature's Health Foods'.**

 **Me: Since when did you buy a health food store?!**

 **Nature (in the distance): What health food store?**

 **Me: The health food store that looks very shady.**

 **Nature: I didn't open up a health food store.**

 **Me: *scoffs* yeah right**

 **Daringwolf2000: Yeah. Kurse makes me want to slap him and then give him a pat on the head for being such a good henchman.**

 **Winteril: Heh, I've been told that I'm annoying with my squealing and fangirl habits. But I have a friend and when we get together, it's like a fangirl explosion. XD thank you once again for the hilarious review**


	12. Chapter 12

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 12_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

"Uh, Nature?" Jack said, the bear coming closer and closer to the helpless teenagers.

"What?" Nature asked, still looking at the bear, who bore his ugly fangs as it didn't slow down.

"You might want to do something with that bear."

"I'm a wielder of Nature, not a magician." She muttered and walked closer to the bear.

"What are you doing?!"

"Saying hello to Arturas."

"Wait, he has a name? Wait, 'saying hello'? You're about to become his lunch!"

"Arturas wouldn't hurt a fly." She stopped to think. "That's not true."

Arturas completely ignored Solace and scooped up Nature in a gigantic bear hug. He let a satisfied growl while standing on his back legs.

"Hi buddy. It's nice to see you too. But I need to see Ombric. Can you let me down? Gently?" She asked, actually sounding nice for once.

The bear let Nature down. "Thank you." Arturas nodded before waddling off. Nature struggled to stand.

"I could-"

"Don't need your help." She reminded.

"Let me finish! I could help _if_ you let me."

"I _don't want_ your help." She snapped.

Jack let out a dejected sigh. "Terra. Listen to me. You're obviously weak from whatever Kurse did to you. Let me help you. That's what friends do, after all. That is...if we are friends."

"I...you're right." She admitted, hanging her head in shame. "People aren't my specialty, animals and nature are. I can't realize when I'm cold to others. It's what I've always done. Yes...we're friends." She weakly smiled and leaned against Solace.

"I can understand that...Besides, I thought I was the one with the cold shoulder." Jack joked with a smirk, making Nature laugh lightly.

"C-could you help me get to Ombric?" She asked quietly.

Jack nodded, and walked over to where Nature was sitting, helpless. He gently picked her up bridal style and held her close.

Terra blushed, realizing how close she was to Jack. She hid the shiver she felt, but still felt a little warmth radiating from his chest.

"So where are we going?" Jack asked, hiding the bright blush that had creeped up.

"U-um." Terra hated the fact that she stuttered whenever she was flustered. "F-First we have to get through the seperate walls Omb-bric has p-placed. It shouldn't be too hard if-if Arturas has informed the-the defenses that there's not a reason to worry. Hopefully."

"Can't I just fly in?"

"It's not that easy, Jack." Terra retorted. "Ombric placed a barrier, and then a wall of plants, and then a Siren, and then Arturas."

"Pitch never was that cautious." Jack muttered. Terra felt a twinge of guilt, but hid it. Jack had noticed this, but decided to not speak about it. "So how do we get through?"

"Last time I was here, Ombric had told me of this one way to get through: there are tunnels that the children would go through in order to study the forest. That's what we can take to get inside Santoff Claussen."

"You said...tunnels?" Jack asked, his tone one of nervousness.

"Yes. They're not long." Nature assured. "It's only a small ways ahead."

"Yay..." Jack mumbled to himself and began to walk.

"What's the problem?"

"Nothing..." Jack a life the question, shifting his gaze away from Terra.

"Are you afraid of tunnels?" Terra questioned, raising an interested eyebrow.

"Well you're afraid of heights!" Jack stated embarrassingly.

"You are!" Terra smiled with a faint giggle.

"It's not something that's supposed to be made fun of. It's just... Never mind, it's stupid."

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I said it was stupid."

"Well Solace hates underground, so you can stay with him if you're scared." Terra teased before taking the creature she hand bottled up a few days ago from the saddlebags. She held it close, it hissing in complaint all the while.

"And how would you go through the tunnels?"

"You have a point." She admitted. "It's right in front of you."

Jack looked at the space of green grass in front of him. "And how do you know?"

"I happen to be a very talented person."

Jack gave her a look. "Ha, ha. Very funny. What next?"

"It's a pair of cellar-like doors covered with grass. You just have to open them up and walk down."

"How do I do that? If you haven't noticed, I can't use my hands."

"Oh, right. Um, let's see here." Terra puffed away her graying hair. "Solace?" The elk happily obliged and sniffed the patch of grass before effortlessly nudging them open with his nose. He then reached into the bags, retrieved a corked flask that had seemingly nothing, and handed it to Terra.

"Thank you Solace." Terra spoke gratefully.

"What's this?" Jack asked.

"You'll see in just a minute. On we go." Terra nodded towards Solace and the two teenagers descended into the tunnels, the darkness completely enveloping them. Solace shut the doors behind them and sat patiently by.

"Because that's not suspicious at all." Jack grumbled. He was slightly blinded when Terra shook the bottle and it began to glow. The bottle gave off an otherworldly blue glow as it shone bright. "What is it?" Jack pondered.

"Bioluminescent rocks ground into an ultrafine powder. Ombric and another friend of mine actually came up with the idea." She smiled at the ingenious idea and set it in her lap.

Jack hummed in interest and continued on.

It wasn't until about ten minutes into the journey into the tunnel that the awkward silence had become unbearable.

"I, uh, I don't like tunnels because they remind me of when I died." Jack admitted.

"What?" Terra said in disbelief.

"You know what I said." Jack said, avoiding eye contact with the wielder of nature.

"It reminds you of when you died?"

Jack only nodded. "It was cold, and dark, and the last thing I remember was falling into the ice. I don't want something like that to happen again..."

Terra didn't know what to say. There literally were no words that came to mind.

"Sephtis says he remembers how you died."

"What? But I don't even remember how I died!" Terra shook her head.

"He expects you to remember somehow."

"But I can't..."

"How can you not remember everything that's ever happened to you? I mean, you have to remember something."

"I do remember something, but I don't like thinking about it. It's not the best memory..." She looked away, obviously hurt from the memory.

Jack decided to change the subject. "What's this wizard supposed to do?"

"I need to ask Ombric a few questions and he could help me with my memories."

"And then what?"

"I'll be staying with Ombric for a few days. I can't do anything in this state." She barely spoke above a whisper. "The other side should be right ahead." She motioned to the identical set of doors. Jack kicked the doors open and walked into the large town. Many small houses were scattered throughout the town and children ran around everywhere, giggling and laughing. Some of them were even practicing magic as they wrote down their findings.

"To the huge tree in the middle of the town?" Jack questioned and Terra simply nodded. Taking the opportunity, Jack used the wind to fly into the air and towards the large Oak Tree in the center of town. They landed just a few feet away from the tree before noticing the large, red sleigh with reindeer standing a ways away.

"Wait a minute..." Terra scrambled out of Jack's hold and leaned against him for support. "Does this mean-"

"Jack!" A teenager with dark gray armor and a staff with a glowing gem on the top hopped down from the top of the tree and stood in front of Terra and Jack. His messy, silver hair stuck up and slightly over one side of his face. His bright silver eyes sparkled with delight.

"Nightlight!" Jack said, a smile lighting up his face.

"Jack?" Terra questioned, wondering how Jack knew Nightlight.

"Terra!" Nightlight exclaimed.

"Nightlight?" Terra said, simple rely confused now.

"Jack!" A familiar Russian accent boomed through the air.

"North!" With Terra by his side, Jack rushed over to where his fellow Guardians stood at the large, carved door that led into Big Root, where Ombric the wizard lived.

"How are you all here?" Terra questioned looking from Sandy to Tooth.

"Bunny told us where you were headed and we thought we'd meet you." Tooth explained as she flitted around.

"I knew that was going to happen." Terra rolled her eyes, looking at Bunny.

"What can I say? You're a stubborn gal." Bunny smirked. Terra smiled, still holding onto Jack.

"What happened to you? You're smiling!" Nightlight said, taking a look at Terra.

"For now, Terra needs to take a break." Jack said, ushering Terra towards the door. Terra nodded tiredly. "That's an understatement..."

"Well enough of the mopin', ya gumby." Bunny commented. "Ya can relax now."

Terra walked into the hollowed out tree. "I'll go rest for now and be up in time for dinner. "Thank you..." She said, her expression of gratitude aimed more towards Jack. The Frsot Sprite nodded, hiding his obvious blush.

 **A special thanks to xXBloodJewelXx for the inspiration of this chapter! Also a special thanks to Winteril for last chapter's inspiration! If it weren't for you guys, this Fanfiction would be dreadfully boring! Also, if any of you have ideas on how Terra died, feel free to PM me, or leave your suggestions in your review!**

 **Winteril: may I just say that every time I read your reviews, I end up with this hilariously stupid grin after I finish reading! They make my day :)**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: Thank you! I kind of changed your suggestion to fit the setting and changed a tiny bit of the dialogue :) I hope you liked it**


	13. Chapter 13

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 13_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

 _"Momma." The young girl muttered sleepily as she walked into her mother's study, where the woman was answering diplomatic letters and the like._

 _"Terra, what are you doing up?" The woman, whose name was Aloria, turned in her chair to look at her daughter._

 _"I can't sleep. When is Papa coming home?" Terra asked, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. She walked up to her mother and rested her arms on the desk._

 _"You're father won't be home for another few hours, darling. What's the matter?" Aloria turned to face Terra. Aloria patted her lap and Terra willfully climbed on._

 _"I keep having dreams about Nightmare Men. Papa always chases the Nightmare Men away. I want Papa to come back from the constellations." Terra said as she blinked back tears._

 _"I know. I want Kozmotis to return as well..." Aluria admitted as she hugged her daughter. Kozmotis had been off on a Crusade in other constellations for several months. He was planning on returning home tonight, but it would be very late._

 _"Momma? Can you sing me the lullaby?" Terra pleaded with an adorable expression._

 _"Of course..." Aloria began the lullaby, singing ever so softly. "_ _Sleep my child and peace attend thee, All through the night Guardian angels God will send thee, All through the night Soft the drowsy hours are creeping Hill and vale in slumber sleeping, I my loving vigil keeping All through the night."_

 _"While the moon her watch is keeping All through the night While the weary world is sleeping All through the night O'er they spirit gently stealing Visions of delight revealing Breathes a pure and holy feeling All through the night."_

 _"Love, to thee my thoughts are turning All through the night All for thee my heart is yearning, All through the night. Though sad fate our lives may sever Parting will not last forever, There's a hope that leaves me never,_ _All through the night."_

 _By the time Aloria was finished with the lullaby, Terra had fallen asleep on her lap._

* * *

"They seem to be holding up alright." Bunny observed Jack and Terra huddled together on a pair of chairs in the center of the main room in Big Root. Right after the two had sit down, they had dozed off. Knowing all the two had been through, Ombric advised everyone to not wake Jack and Terra.

"Terra seems to have undergone a change." Ombric observed as he stroked his beard. He lightly tapped the weathered and twisted staff with a clear crystal on the top against the ground.

"She seems happier. Jack really did change her." Bunny contemplated on the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"You say that as though it is a bad thing, Bunnymund." Ombric pointed out.

"Not...bad, necessarily. Just strange." Bunny nodded, his grey ears lightly bouncing up and down.

"It will take her a while to adjust to the subject of opening up to others. In time it will become a natural thing... She still doesn't remember?"

Bunny swiftly shook his head. "If she did remember, she would've already been here for a while."

"That is correct..." Ombric nodded, concentrating on a different, but more important subject. Terra would be weak for the next few days from Kurse's attack. Ombric feared that any further contact with Sephtis would put Terra in great danger. The wizard had many questions that only Terra could answer. He could wait until dinner, and that was only a few hours away, after all.

For now, he would concentrate on a plan concerning Sephtis and whatever the Decay Prince had in mind.

* * *

Terra stirred, waking up from the slightly strange dream she experienced. It was more of a memory than a dream, but Terra was unsure.

Beside her, Jack grumbled and tried to find a comfortable spot. He finally gave up and cracked one eye open.

"Hi." He greeted sleepily, giving a small smile. "How're you feeling?" Terra made a face and made a sound that sounded a lot like a _mrrp._ Jack laughed. "What would that mean?"

"Bleh." Terra complained, sticking out her tongue in disgust. "It's like waking up to see that it's still winter."

"But winter isn't 'bleh'! It's snowballs and fun times!" Jack stated, looking at Terra as if she had gone insane.

"No. Winter is for staying inside and contemplating if winter is really necessary." Terra continued to complain.

"But then there'd be no need for me! I'm important, aren't I?"

"It's debatable." She teased.

"You guys are looking better." Nightlight observed as he trotted into the room. He pulled up a chair and perched on it.

"Which brings up an excellent question: How do you know Nightlight, Jack?" Terra asked standing up from her chair and stretching.

"Nightlight and I meet up every now and then." Jack explained. "I met him one night when he was dealing with a colony of stubborn fireflies."

"A _colony_?" Nightlight scoffed. "I think it was a little more than that. And fireflies are always picky." Nightlight brushed off the comment as he balanced his staff on the back of the chair.

"And how do you know Nightlight?" Jack asked.

"We've known each other for a while." Terra said, not fully answering the question. She really didn't want to delve into the subject. "...What are you doing in Santoff Claussen, Nightlight?"

"The Man in the Moon told me you'd be coming here. I guessed that it'd be good to see you since we haven't seen each other in a while. Oh yeah, Ombric wanted me to tell you that we'll be having a meeting that will kinda stretch into dinner. I'm guessing you have a few questions for him."

"I'm guessing dinner's close then?"

Nightlight nodded. "Everyone's waiting in the dining room."

"Good. I'll be heading there if you guys wanna join." She offered with a smile.

"We'll meet you there. We're just going to catch up." Jack said, returning the smile.

"Right." Nightlight went along with the impromptu plan.

Terra nodded and walked into one of the many halls of Big Root. The halls were carved out of the tree itself and one wall was lined with carved out windows of every shape. Some windows contained bottles of every shape and color and every time the sun shone through, it would cast the most beautiful of colors.

Terra took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Finally, she was able to take a rest. She would never take advantage of a rest ever again. Now that she was in Santoff Claussen, she wouldn't have to worry about mold beings and other people who hated her guts.

That wouldn't stop Sephtis. Terra didn't know much about Sephtis but she knew, somehow, that Sephtis would stop at nothing to sure whatever plan he had in mind would be accomplished, no matter the cost. Did Sephtis want Terra dead? Or did he just want the world to suffer in rot? As much as Terra wanted to not think about it, she needed to.

"There she is!" Bunny's voice snapped Terra out of her thoughts. She shook her head and put on a small smile.

"How do you feel, Nature?" North questioned.

"Much better, North." Terra glanced at the bottle she had been holding ever since she had stepped inside Big Root. It contained the odd creature she found in the Empire. The now pebble-sized creature shrunk into a corner of the bottle and sulked, knowing fully well who it was being taken to. "I do have a few questions for Ombric, though... Number one-" She set the bottle onto the table in the center of the circular room.

Sandy was the first to react. The short Guardian floated over to where the bottle sat. The creature inside hissed and grew in size, now occupying the full size of the bottle.

"Rimsky Korsakov..." North exclaimed under his breath and the rest of the Guardians gathered around Sandy.

"You guys know what it is?" Terra asked, intrigue obvious in her voice.

"It's a..." Tooth began.

"A Fearling." Bunny finished, his tone cold and bitter. Ombric stood from his place at the table and calmly walked over to the group, his black robe with silver specks sparkling like stars as it swished over the floor.

"Where did you find this, Terra?" Ombric asked, looking at the Fearling in interest.

"It was in the Empire. It kept whispering my name, but I don't know how that's possible; I've never seen it before. At least, I don't _remember_ ever seeing a Fearling. What's a Fearling, anyway?"

"They are...beings who feed on fear." North answered, deep in thought.

"The only person who has control over them is Pitch Black." Tooth sounded scared, though her fear was understandable.

Terra shook her head, as though she hadn't fully understood what Tooth had said. "Wait. You said Pitch Black? But I thought you guys beat him before Jack became a Guardian."

"The Guardians may have defeated Pitch Black, but he was held back from Nightmares for only a short amount of time. Sandman takes care of any Nightmare Men or Fearlings that somehow escape. There is no need to worry." Ombric assured.

"Worry about what now?" Jack and Nightlight walked into the room.

"Nothing." Terra snatched away the bottle before anyone could comment on it any further. "I asked Ombric about the creature I found and he said that I wouldn't have to worry about it."

"So what is it then?" Nightlight asked.

"He said he would look further into it. He'd learn about it the best that he could before making an assumption." She rushed the explanations, hoping that it was believable. Jack only shrugged and sat at the table.

Dinner soon commenced and everyone enjoyed their dinner as they happily ate their food. Terra, on the other had, stared off into space and poked around her food. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of Pitch Black and Sephtis' plans.

 _Relax, Terra. You're safe._ A calm voice at the back of her head advised.

 _But what if I'm not? What if this thing that Kurse did to me worsens and that I don't come out of alive?_ She thought worriedly. Terra noticed Jack looking at her, his expression one that seemed to ask 'Are you okay?'. She ignored the look and found a sudden interest in her food.

This would be a long, very struggled few days of recuperation.

 **Bleh. This is one of those chapters on my least favorite chapter list. It needs more action... Today it snowed where I live. You know what I did today? I did school.**

 **Me:Jack, make it snow harder! Make the electricity lines snap! I'm homeschooled! Make the power go out!**

 **Jack (in the distance): I don't think it works like that.**

 **Me: I don't care! Give me snow! I want snow! And lots of it!**

 **Winteril: Thank you for the suggestion! I was planning on Terra to be either the Guardian of Beauty, or the Guardian of Courage. I'm not sure yet, though :) still love the Reaction Reviews! And I didn't think that lots of people knew about Nightlight! He's pretty cool :)**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: I like the suggestions! Like always, I'll keep them in mind! Thank You!**

 **Guest: That's an awesome idea! I hadn't even thought about that :) and don't apologize about long reviews, they help me know what you guys like and exactly what I should add to the Fanfiction :)**


	14. Chapter 14

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 14_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Terra strolled through the extensive library that Ombric owned. Reading books always calmed her nerves. She guessed that Ombric would have something on Sephtis and his mold, or Pitch and all of the shadow beings he used. At least, that was what she assumed. Nothing could be found so far.

"So," –Nightlight hopped onto the top of the bookshelf Terra was looking at and peered down at his friend– "I couldn't help but notice your behavior at dinner yesterday, Lady Pitchiner."

"Nightlight!" Terra hissed. "Be quiet! Someone might be hearing!"

"What's the problem? When you came here, you were actually smiling and happy!"

"I'm acting realistically. Having fun all the time doesn't get the job done." She answered, adding a pile of books to the small cart beside her.

"So you think being an emotionless stick will? You know you always didn't act like this." Nightlight reminded, becoming annoyed with Terra's behavior.

"Yeah, well that had to change quickly." Terra walked down the row of bookshelves.

"You know, I almost missed the Fearling you brought here." Nightlight stated, making Terra turn around to face him. "What I don't get is why you were hiding it from Jack."

"He would have asked questions. Then I'd have to tell him everything..." She said, sadness dripping in her voice.

"Pitch is your dad, so what?"

"Nightlight! I'm serious! I don't want another person treating me like I'm some girl with evil motivations for everything she does!"

"I don't think Jack would do that."

"But how would you know? You didn't have to deal with my dad!"

Nightlight scoffed. "Are you kidding me? We're complete opposites! We couldn't clash more!" He paused to take a deep breath. "You need to stop being a stick in the mud. Plus, I think it would help your recuperation." He jumped down from the bookshelf and looked through the cart full of books that had nothing in relation to each other. "What are you all these for?"

"I'm trying to find a natural way to restore my memories. And I need to find a way to communicate with Cerelia ever since all of my Flower Sprites were changed..." She puffed away her annoying, grey bangs and added more to the pile. "And I'm also looking for some way to reverse the effects of whatever Kurse did to me, I look like I'm actually thousands of years old."

Nightlight stooped over and placed a hand on his back. "Hi, sonny." –he spoke in an elderly woman's voice– "Let's look at the weather today. Oh, would you look at that, Jack Frost is causing problems again. Eh, I'll deal with it after my daily denture clean and my three hour long nap after my knitting shows!"

Terra laughed and copied Nightlight. "Maybe we can have a long walk around the earth and think about our place in the world. Oh, wait, I have to create another storm... Ohhhhhhh, that single lightning bolt caused a crick in my back. My gallbladder!" She laughed again.

Nightlight looked astounded.

"What?" Terra asked, an odd look on her face

"You wee laughing!" Nightlight pointed out with a smile.

"Well, it was funny."

"But, I was expecting 'Nightlight, that's not funny. Stop mocking me'. Jack wasn't kidding!"

"I'm capable of smiling; I'm not always an emotionless stick." She retorted and turned to her pile of books. "I'd better get started on my research. There's a lot to look through." She returned to her serious behavior. Nightlight was disappointed by how fast Terra had turned serious. He had finally gotten her to laugh, but only for a meager two minutes. He'd certainly try later.

"Here, let me help!" Nightlight offered and picked up a pile of books.

" _You_ want to spend the _whole day_ reading?" Terra asked, knowing that Nightlight practically despised reading. Was he up to something?

"Um, yes! You want to get stuff done, and if this calms you down, then I'm all for it! Maybe Jack can help too!"

"I don't think Jack would like looking at books." Terra said, taking a pile of books as well.

"Then he can keep us company!" Okay, yes. Something was definitely up. Terra didn't have a clue as to what that could actually be, but she would see if anything else would happen.

"Sounds good." She said, hiding her suspicions.

* * *

"Who was the one who thought that reading books all day was fun?" Jack complained, looking at the books he was reading in disgust.

"That was obviously a mistake." Nightlight said as he hung upside down from one of Big Root's think branches.

"Mm-hm, mm-hm. No." Terra said, dazedly, adding the book she was reading to a slowly growing pile. She had been laying on a cloud, her arms propping her up as she scoured book after book. "Mm-hm. That's an interesting topic, but not what I need..."

"I thought you said-"

"Shh!" Nightlight silenced Jack. "Don't give away the plan."

Terra remained quiet, mumbling to herself while flicking through another book.

Jack rolled his eyes. "This is stupid. Why did I agree with you on this?"

"You know why. Now look for some answers for Terra." Nightlight shoved the book back into Jack's face.

Terra sighed and added the already read book into the growing pile. "Next one I guess..."

"Mother Nature!" A nervous voice called from below. Terra furrowed her eyebrows, knowing that the voice sounded familiar.

"August?" Terra asked, zooming the could down to ground level. The Season Sprite waiting impatiently at the bottom wore orange pants and orange tunic that were solely made of leaves. Beside August was a girl with bleach blonde hair and a summery outfit with starfish in her hair. "What are you two doing here?" She asked.

"Sephtis kidnapped Cerelia!" August answered nervously.

"And like, without Cerelia, there is like, no way to bring spring, y'know." Summer said the sentence more like a question.

"But it gets worse!"

"Yeah, like you totally won't believe it."

"Sephtis surrounded everything that he could with his rot!"

 **Dun-dun-duuuuun! Suspicious!**

 **Winteril: heh, I wasn't thinking about the children... Thank you for helping!**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: thank you once again!**


	15. Chapter 15

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 15_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

"What?" Terra asked, shocked by the news August had given her.

"I don't think we have to say it again." August said in fear.

"What's the problem?" Jack and Nightlight asked in unison.

"Sephtis... If I don't bring Spring..." Terra pursed her lips and massaged her temples. "No one will ever believe in me..."

"The Spring Sprite was captured!" August cried out.

"And like, Spring is less than a day away." Solstice preplied, popping her gum as she spoke.

"And I don't have the capability to bring Spring like Cerelia does!"

"I thought you said that you could make things grow! What about when you moved those plants in the Sanctuary?" Jack said, looking very confused.

"That was making the water _inside_ the plants move! The only thing I can do to bring Spring is make sure the sun is shining everywhere!" Terra threw her hands into the air. "I-I-I-I can't do this! I'm supposed to-to make s-storms a-a-a-and bring sunlight! I can't make things grow!"

"Whoa! Terra, calm down." Jack instructed. "This could be just a plan to trick you into walking right into the castle!"

"How am I supposed to know that?! As far as I know, that could be beyond Sephtis's regular plans to deal with things! But I wouldn't remember that, because I can't remember a single thing about my life and it makes me absolutely useless!" She growled and stormed off.

"Terra, you're not useless!" Nightlight said as he watched Jack jump in front of Terra.

"You can't just storm into there, you're not even fully healed!" Jack placed a hand on Terra's shoulder.

"I'm not going to. Even I know a stupid endeavor when I see one." She growled, smacking away Jack's arm. "Besides, I have enough to worry about. Like my health, and the fact that Pitch Bkack could be alive and could be an actual threat to me!" She yelled the sentence and used the wind to shut the oak doors behind her.

The remaining people exchanged odd glances before rushing into the large tree. Jack slowed to a stop as he watched Terra storm down the hall.

"What's wrong with Nature?" Tooth asked, flitting over to Jack.

"Sephtis captured the spirit of Spring and Terra can bring Spring all by herself." Jack answered, still confused.

"Sounds like a trap." Bunny muttered, deep in thought.

"That's what I said. Then she said something really strange. She said something about worrying about Pitch Black being a threat to her." -Jack shook his head- "But that doesn't make any sense. I thought we got rid of Pitch."

The Guardians exchanged glances. North advised as he clapped a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, for now, all there is to know is that Pitch can be defeated, but not destroyed."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows, wondering if the rest of his fellow Guardians knew something that he didn't.

* * *

 **Later That Night**

* * *

Terra stirred from her leaf bed. She turned to a nearby window and saw that the moon was high in the sky. She inched out of the bed and set the pillows she was using to look like she was still sleeping.

Terra then silently dropped to her knees to reach under the bed before pulling out a black cloak and a makeshift backpack containing two bladeless sword hilts. The sword hilt was found hidden in the library, where Terra had left them when she was last here. She tied up her hair and threw on the cloak and backpack.

Terra inched towards the window, making sure not to make a sound. She used the wind to open the window and inched out. She reached both of her arms up and motioned for the cloud to come down to her level.

She then hopped on and zoomed away, making sure to leave the window closed.

 **There we go! It's a short chapter, but it's a cliffhanger!**

 **Thanks everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed! I love all the support I'm getting!**


	16. Chapter 16

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 16_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Terra sucked in a breath as she saw the Empire coming up on the horizon. She spread her arms wide and clenched her fists, making the clouds above her to begin a small storm. Terra curtly nodded and laid flat against the cloud. Soon she would be in the Empire. _Her_ Empire.

The storm now picked up to a deafening rainstorm, accompanied with thunder and lightning.

The thought of approaching the decayed Empire didn't frighten Terra. If it did anything, it motivated her. Sephtis had overstepped his bounds. Through rescuing Cerelia, Terra would prove that she was capable of taking care of herself. She could do this.

She took a deep breath and jumped through the cloud, willing the ground to gently catch her. The noise was drowned out by the thunder and pouring rain. Terra took off the backpack and pulled out the two sword hilts. When she grabbed them, beams of light shot out, casting a wide radius of light.

"Let's get this done." She muttered, wiping her sopping wet bangs from her face. She used the light swords to look around, seeing the twisted and notted forms of trees. Terra willed the light swords to dim, making sure her location wasn't given away.

The bridge to the castle should be just a ways ahead. Where Cerelia was, Terra had no clue. Maybe she had time. But- no, she wouldn't worry. She had time. The rain continued to pour down in sheets. Terra was sopping wet at this point.

"I can't believe I was set for the most boring patrol." One mold being complained in a raspy voice. Terra hid behind a tree, the smell of the decaying trees making her hurl. "I should have asked for the center room. I've heard Sephtis has the ugliest mold there."

"That sounds positively ugly." The other mold being growled.

 _Finally, baddies trained to be competent._ Terra rolled her eyes and sneaked through the forest. She came upon the bridge, or lack thereof. There was only a thin bridge of mold connecting the two peices of land together. She poked the bridge with her foot.

"I'm not going to risk it..." She muttered, grumbling as she took one big leap and (with a little help of the wind) she barely made it. Terra puffed out a nervous breath, fixed her cloak and continued on.

Terra soon came upon the castle. She willed the lights from the flame to disintegrate altogether, but still kept the empty hilts in her hand.

 _Get Cerelia, get out..._ She repeated the four words to herself. _No, what if I don't have to get out? Sephtis said he could have known when I died. What if... What if he knows more? What if I got Cerelia, told her to escape to Santoff Claussen, then saw if I could get some answers? I still have a lot of time. It could work..._

She determined and snuck through the shadows. _There are not many rooms in the castle. Just my formerly owned bedroom, the center room and the dining room... I refuse to check my room first. To the dining room then._ Terra noticed the two mold beings by the opening door. She picked up a branch and tossed it to the side, hoping for a distraction. The mold beings remained at their position however. Terra rolled her eyes and directed a lighting bolt towards the beings. They only flinched.

She scoffed, wondering where she could find guards like that.

 _Not now, Terra._ She scolded herself with a shake of her head. _For now we have to think of a way to get these guards out of the way... Wait!_

She nodded and snapped her fingers. Terra stepped out of her hiding place among the foliage and meandered along, taking her time as she walked towards the castle. She even waved a hand in front of one of the guard's faces, giggling at his ever-stoic expression. Terra snuck inside, seeing that guards constantly walking around the cylindrical room.

Dining room... To the left and the first door down the hall. Terra rushed to the dining room and paused once she got to the door. _Cerelia might be in here. I hope she is. I don't want to spend too long in here._ Terra tiptoed inside and lit the light swords again.

"No, please not again..." A weak voice pleaded from a dark corner of the room.

"Cerelia?" Terra hissed.

"No, I don't want your disgusting food. Leave me alone." The weak voice said obstinately.

"Cerelia, it's Nature." Terra said as she inched towards the corner of the room.

"Mother Nature? Why are you here?"

Terra came upon Cerelia who looked dirty, her normally pastel colored dress ripped and dirtied. She wore a hopeful smile, her light pink eyes filled with joy.

"I've come to save you." Terra said, making swift cuts to destroy Cerelia's bonds. "You need to get to Santoff Claussen. That's where North is."

"What about you?" The Spring Spirit asked, rubbing her wrists.

"She'll have to deal with me." Sephtis answered, stepping behind Terra. "The _Sprite_ may go. She isn't necessary anymore."

"But-" Cerelia was cut off when Terra shot her a look that told her to make a run for it. Cerelia hesitantly nodded and bolted towards the door.

"Please, sit." Sephtis motioned to the regular sized table sitting in the center of the room. "And if you could be so kind as to cease the rainstorm, I would greatly hate it." Sephtis walked over to the table and sat the front.

"How can you see me? How do you know that was even me who created the storm?" Terra voiced two of the billions of questions running around in her mind. She sat across from Sephtis, glaring at him all the while.

"I happen to know many things about you." Sephtis place his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on his hands.

"Yet I don't know a thing about myself." Terra stayed, bitterly.

"So I've heard. But what if I told you that I may possess a way to restore your memories?"

"It's obviously has a catch to it. An eternity of servitude? My head on a silver plate?"

Sephtis scoffed. "Oh now, come on. I'm not always evil... You can leave with your memories, and I won't even raise a finger to attack."

"And you think I can trust you?"

"But why do you trust... Your father?" A wicked grin spread on Sephtis' face once she saw the hurt in Terra's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Terra hid the vulnerability in her voice.

"He _is_ a villain, like me."

"Papa isn't like you at all! He just misses his family... And why do you care?"

He shook his head. "Just...curious." He reached inside his cape and pulled out a metallic, cylindrical object. He placed it in the middle of the table, letting the both of them to easily reach it.

"Is that...?" Terra stared in disbelief.

"Your teeth." Sephtis answered slyly.

"You...had them?"

"I couldn't have you remembering."

"But why now?"

"Because I'm sick and tired of you not knowing who I am. Obviously you'll never fear me if you don't know who I really am."

Terra stared at the tooth container in disgust. "Oh, but don't you want to know? Don't you want to know the memories. Not the one that is constantly running through your mind of your Mother's murder? You must be DYING to know. Admit it."

Terra now looked warily between the tooth container and Sephtis. She silently rose from her seat, reached over the table, picked up the container and sat back down.

"I can know now..." She whispered to herself, touching the top of the container. Her surroundings seemed to have opened up, unlocked by the memories kept in the teeth.

Memories of a tiny girl who loves plants. She giggled often, running around in an ever present lavender and light green dress. Her mother and father, both noble looking people who wore the best of clothes and cared deeply for their children.

Children. There were to small children, both having the same black hair that their parents possessed. The oldest was a boy with bright silver eyes was named Ludovic, but he preferred being called Ludo.

The younger child, a giggly girl with emerald green eyes, was named Terra. The two children loved their parents, whose names were Kosmotis and Aluria Pitchiner.

The Pitchiners were the ideal family. As with any sibling, the brother and sister fought, but often found each of apologizing minutes later. Other times, the siblings would get into fights, and it would begin terribly. Aloria would even have to separate the house into halves, not letting the children near each other. Kozmotis would find this slightly amusing, much to his wife's hatred.

Kozmotis was a well known general. He was capable of many great things, and excelled in what he loved to the best of his abilities. He and his army would spend whole months, even years, traveling the constellations in order to drive out beings such as Nightmare Men, Dream Pirates, and Fearlings. This would leave his family to live without their father for an extended amount of time. They sufficed, quite used to the fact that their father was gone most of the time.

 _And then came that terrible day..._

 _Terra sat at the worn down table that was overcrowded with plants of any time. She had an unexplainable obsession with plants, adoring how the tiniest of plants could grow into something so large, such as a Redwood Tree._

 _Of course, Terra only knew of Redwood Treas from the many books she read. The constellation she lived on didn't have trees like that, only Earth did. Ah, Earth. She learned about Earth as often as she could, fascinated by how such a world could contain such a vast assortment of everything. Terra wished dearly that she could visit Earth. The most exciting part about the constellation she lived in had to be the odd gravity, where you could jump into the air and float, but you could still walk on the ground._

 _"Teeeeeeeeerrrrrrraaaa." Ludo called as he stares from the door to the room._

 _"What do you want, Ludovic?" Terra rolled her eyes at her older brother's behavior, but still smiled._

 _"Mamma said you have to get the house ready for when Papa comes home." Ludo sang the reminder, knowing how his sister was often a slacker when it came to responsibilities._

 _"Bleh. Can't I just stare here and have fun reading? I just got to the part about roses!" She held up the plant encyclopedia she had miraculously come upon while at the market._

 _"I think Mamma was being serious when she said that you'd be in deep trouble if you didn't get the house done by the time she got home."_

 _"Ugh! It's your home too!" She retorted angrily, jumping up from her chair and stomping over to the door._

 _Ludo scoffed. "She was talking to you; not me!"_

 _"If I have to clean the whole house all by myself, I'm not the only one who will be in deep trouble." She crossed her arms over the lavender and green dress that her mother made her. Whenever Terra grew, Aloria would make her a new dress that looked exactly like the old one that Terra always wore. Terra loved the outfit with all her being, never being one who greatly concerned herself with jewelry or fancy clothing._

 _"Whatever, Terra!" Ludo waved the girl off and walked off._

 _Terra let out an annoyed growl. "I'm not gonna clean the house and then I'll tell Mamma it's all your fault because you're the only one who can unlock the cleaning closet and you refused!"_

 _"Sorry, what? I can't hear you over how incredibly awesome I am!"_

 _Terra groaned loudly._

 _"You sound like a monkey! Should that be your new name?"_

 _"Be quiet, Ludo!"_

 _Just as Terra was about to yell more at her brother, a rushed knock sounded at the door. Terra answered it, seeing a person who lived on the constellation was standing at the door._

 _"Lady Pitchiner! There are Dream Pirates at the reservoir. They're trying to drown the city! Where's your mother?"_

 _"My mother is out at the moment, maybe I could go-"_

 _"There's no time!"_

 _"I can't do anything!" But maybe Ludo could! No, maybe Terra could prove that she was worth something more than just someone who cleaned. Her father always talked about taking a stand even when you think that nothing can be done._

 _"You have to!"_

 _Terra bit her lip anxiously. "Alright. Get everyone out, just in case." She nodded and ran out the door, slamming it shut. She raced towards the reservoir, hoping that she could do something._

 _Once she got to the reservoir, she slowed to a stop. Dream pirates, (small star clusters in the shape of a human) was still pouring out of their star ships as some hacked away a small dam with barn yard sized doors that led to larger and larger lakes of clean water._

 _"I order you to stop!" A few guards in armor shouted, among them was her mother, wielding two light swords. Terra severely doubted her mother needing to go to the market now._

 _A large group of Dream Pirates raced towards her mother and the guards. The guards swiftly dealt with the Dream Pirates, but more and more seemed to appear out of nowhere. Terra watched her mother attack the Pirates, bringing three down with each swing of her swords._

 _And then the inevitable happened. The Dream Pirates were slowly killing off each guard one by one until the only person standing was Aloria. Terra silently cheered for her mother, watching her fight. More and more Dream Pirates came and fought._

 _Then, a cry of pain sliced through the air. Aloria had been struck down._

 _"No!" Terra cried out as she watched her mother fall to the ground. "NOOOO!" She screamed racing towards the Dream Pirates. But what could she do? She was a tiny shrimp compared to them! The best thing to do was prevent any further damage to the reservoir._

 _The Dream Pirates had left their offenders bodies and continued to chips away at the second reservoir door. The best thing Terra could do now is to keep the first door shut the most she could. She picked up her as many of the guard's swords as she could and raced over to the door, securing the swords into the doors as best as she could._

 _"I could die doing this." The thought just occurred to her. "Papa said to do what you can; to never give up; to show courage. I can do that." She nodded, glancing at her mother's dead body. Terra choked out a sob. "I'm sorry Mamma. I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner. Maybe I could've done something." Terra took a deep breath._

 _"I hope I have shown great courage." She stated and minutes later, the wooden doors broke and the water engulfed the empty remains of the city._

 **Wow. This chapter's depressing... But, annnnywaaay, I apologize for the late update :T I slept in today because I was watching Rise of the Guardians with my nine-year-old cousin at ridiculously late hours at night (or in the morning, however you wanna look at it). I really wanted to get this done, so Ta-Daaaa! So what do you think happened to Ludo? And if you have a better name for him, leave it in your review!**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: Maybe in the next chapter or two? I'm not sure :) I kinda have it already written, because I liked it so much :) I'm just struggling with where exactly I need to put it in the story at the moment :)**

 **Winteril: You're so nice :) thank you for the excellent compliments :) they totally make my day :) here have another smiley face :)**


	17. Chapter 17

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 16_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

 _It had happened so fast. The walls to the reservoir collapsed. Terra had felt the water rush over her. She could have sworn that she was washed away; that the only thing she remembered was watching the sun setting. She remembered choking under the water; the last thing she had seen was the glow of setting sun above her before she blacked out, presuming that she would have never wake up again._

 _Then she woke up, a gasp filling her lungs. She sat up, conveying her surroundings. Terra sat in the middle of a grassy field, but no water from the flood could be seen. She gasped once more._

 _"How..." She questioned, looking up at the moon above her._

 _"_ Terra." _A voice called out._

 _"Where?" Terra looked around, but couldn't see the person calling for her._

 _"_ Look above you." _The voice instructed, and Terra obeyed._

 _"The moon?" She asked in curiosity._

"I am the Man in the Moon. You are Mother Nature."

 _"No, I'm Terra."_

"This is all I can tell you. The rest you must discover by yourself."

 _"Wait!" Terra pleaded, jumping to her feet. "Why am I alive! Where am I? Why can't I see the galaxies above me?" She looked up at the sky, which seemed to part as she looked at the twinkling stars. No voice could be heard._

 _"Where's Papa? I want Papa." Terra dropped to her knees and hugged her legs as she softly cried._

 _"Why are you crying?" A different voice asked._

 _Terra gasped and stared at the person staring in front of her. He seemed to be the same age as her. He wore armor and carried a staff with a crystal that glowed on the top. The person himself seemed to give on a luminescent sort of light that seemed to chase away Terra's fear._

 _"Who are you?" Terra asked, wiping away her tears, still sitting curled up._

 _"I'm Nightlight!" He said with a smile and plopped down next to Terra. "But you still haven't answered my question."_

 _"I-I don't know where I am. And my Mamma, she's gone." She sniffled._

 _"What do you mean you don't know where you are?" Nightlight pondered, his head cocked to the side._

 _"I've never seen a sky like this. I normally see lots of constellations and planets and..." She laughed. "I'm going crazy, that must be it. I thought I heard_ the moon _talking to me."_

 _"Wait, you mean Mim talked to you?" Nightlight perked up, glowing just a little brighter._

 _"He talks to you?" She asked, clearly confused._

 _"Yeah! So what's your name?"_

 _"Um, I'm Terra."_

 _"No, I meant the name Mim gave you! What's your name?"_

 _"He said I was Mother Nature, but that can't be right. Why would I have a different name?"_

 _Nightlight hummed thoughtfully. "Well, what's that?" He pointed to a stick lying on the ground. Terra turned to look at the stick. It seemed to be carved and the carvings glowed all sorts of colors._

 _"Well I don't know." She stated, still looking at the stick._

 _"Maybe it does something." Nightlight suggested._

 _"How am I supposed to now?"_

 _"By picking it up, duh!" Nightlight laughed. Terra furrowed her brows and let out an annoyed growl. She brushed away her annoying, black bangs and trotted over to the stick. She poked it with one finger and picked it up, the carvings turning bright green._

 _"Cool! Now try doing something cool with it?"_

 _"Like what?"_

 _He shrugged. "Anything, I guess."_

 _"Go, Magic, Up and Away, Leviosah, Abracadabra! Some sort of magicky amazingness!" Terra yelled everything that came to mind, but nothing worked._

 _"I don't think-"_

 _"Look, I think I can handle myself. Thanks, but I don't need your help." Terra glared at Nighlight, noticing that thunder rumbled in the distant._

 _"Wait, say something else."_

 _"Why?!" The thunder returned and disappeared as soon as it appeared._

 _Nightlight came up with an idea. "Turn around and walk a few steps."_

 _"Fine." Terra grumbled, and stomped away, leaving cracks in the earth with each stomp. "What in the world?!"_

 _"Okay, as much as you hate this, think of a sweet, innocent animal dying."_

 _"Why would I do that?! Now I'm sad." Terra said and rain began to drizzle. "Wait, how?!"_

 _"You can control the weather! We have_ got _to tell Katherine! She'll be excited that there's another person like us!" Nightlight smiled widely and ran off as fast as he could._

 _"Wait, do leave me here! Who's Katherine?!" Terra ran after Nightlight, a billion questions running through her mind._

Terra snapped back into reality. She stared at the tooth container in awe and wonder.

 _"_ I had a brother? I saved my whole city? Mamma didn't die because of me?" Terra let a relieved smile slip through.

"But you don't worry about your brother?" Sephtis calmly asked, his feet resting on the edge of the table.

 _"_ Ludo? He's probably taking care of the constellation."

 _"_ Let me tell you that you are wrong. Completely and totally wrong. After your little 'savior attempt' in the city, Kozmotis came home to news that his wife and daughter were dead. Kozmotis was completely destroyed. After he overcame his mourning, though, he became angry. He blamed Ludovic for Aloria's death, saying that you had sacrificed yourself for her mother, while Ludovic only sat around, being 'as useless as ever'. Ludovic watched as his father became completely consumed by destroying every single Nightmare Man, Fearling, and Dream Pirate. One day, Kozmotis didn't return home. Ludovic was relieved. He took this opportunity to run away." Sephtis finished in a cold, bitter tone.

"How do you know about all of this?" Terra asked, preparing herself for a quick escape.

Sephtis snapped his fingers, securing Terra to the chair. He rose from his chair and made his way over to Terra.

"Because, Terra, it may have escaped your memory, but it hasn't escaped mine that no matter what I did, for Papa; for anything, you were always his favorite. Because of you, I could have never been seen as the loving son." Sephtis stood in front of Terra, glaring daggers at her.

Fear flashed in Terra's eyes. "No. You can't be Ludo! You can't! Ludo wouldn't do that!"

Sephtis grabbed Terra by the throat and hoisted her into the air. "Dad became the Nightmare King! You and your delusional beliefs can rot!"

Terra clawed at Sephtis' hand. "Please...it doesn't have to be like." She said optimistically, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

"No. If I finally destroyed you, Dad would see that I wasn't just some lazy bum!"

"Ludo, please. Please don't do this." Terra pleaded in between sobs. "Mamma wouldn't want you to do this!"

"ALORIA IS DEAD, TERRA, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!" Sephtis screamed and tightened his grip.

"Ludo...do it... End my life. It'll only makes things...worse for you... Papa will never forgive you for killing me."

"You don't know that!" Sephtis barked.

"I suggest...you do it..quickly, Ludo... The sun's rising. The Guardians...will be...on their way."

"They'll be just in time to see your dead body."

"And then what?...Will you just let...everyone on this planet...die, because that's what...will happen. The world will suffer...and Papa still won't love you."

Sephtis growled and tightened his grip even more. Terra couldn't breath now. "You forgot to tie down my hands." She stated and threw a fist, making the ground to attack Sephtis. Sephtis dropped Terra and she landed onto the cold stone floor, coughing as she tried to take in breaths.

Terra jumped to her feet and ran as fast as she could towards the door. Sephtis growled and pursued after Terra.

"Get out of the castle, get out of the castle, get out of the castle." She repeated the phrase, running through the rooms.

"You're not getting away that easily." Sephtis seethed.

"Really? 'Cause it looks like that's exactly what I'm doing!" Terra smirked. Sephtis attacked with mold and Terra countered with a wall of earth.

"Y'know, I'm glad you returned my memories! This reminds me of the time you chased me around with that frog!"

"Shut up!"

"What? I'm just having fun!"

"Okay, Jack Frost." Sephtis glared at Terra.

The smirk disappeared from Terra's face. "Oh, you did not just compare me to Frost!" Terra attacked with a few gusts of wind. She pumped her fists into the air and a column of rock with Terra on top shot up. Sephtis followed, stepping onto the twisted and rotted tree roots. He attacked Terra with blurbs of mold and Terra saved herself by making a tent out of rock.

She grabbed a cloud from above and jumped on before puttering away.

"If you're a Guardian, then how can you still use your powers? There's no one who believes in you!" Sephtis teased. The cloud ceased from moving.

"What did you say?" Terra asked, turning to face Sephtis.

"No one believes in you. You're more hopeless than Frost before he beat Dad!" Sephtis laughed. "How does it feel Terra? To not be believed in? At least I don't have to worry about that."

"You don't know anything, Sephtis!"

"Oh, but I do. Guardian of Courage?" He let out a maniacal laugh. "You're trying to have courage, yet you're shaking wildly!" He scoffed. "Let me see the Guardian of Courage face thousands of my mold beings!" At the word 'thousands', mold beings flew up and attacked Terra.

Sephtis turned away, but whipped around when thunder boomed from the spot Terra was fighting off the beings. Lightning coursed through the air, protecting their wielder. Terra let out an angered cry, directing the lightning at the beings. Terra passed out from the surge of energy and the column of rocks dissolved beneath her, leaving her to fall.

Healthy tree limbs and vines caught Terra and lowered her slowly towards the ground.

"I thought I told you to go back to Santoff Claussen." Terra grumbled.

"Nature, you might want to look at yourself." Cerelia, the one who saved Terra, said as she held up a mirror. The color disappeared from Terra's face, leaving the girl with grey skin. Her hair had lost any color, and was replaced with a silvery, unhealthy grey.

"I...I need Ombric." Terra admitted before passing out.

 **Whooo! Torturing my characters! That seemed incredibly deja vu. What do you think? I love the small plot twist I put in there though. It's really great.**

 **Winteril: Aw! Thanks! I think every writer needs a reviewer like you! :)**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: I might put that in a flashback, but I'll see what I can do. :)**


	18. Chapter 18

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 18_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Terra muttered something indistinct under her breath. Her vision was blurry when she tried to stand. A person with pure white hair grabbed her shoulders and set her back onto the bed. A random coughing fit burst through the her lungs. Someone placed a cup to her mouth and a cold liquid ran down her throat.

She couldn't hear anything. No, she could hear something, but it didn't do anything to ascertain her surroundings. There was a sentence, whispered, no, shouted; no, it was a combination of whispering and shouting all at the same time. The voice said: "But maybe I'm not a Guardian..." It disappeared and then reappeared over and over again.

And then, the voice screamed the sentence and then Terra blacked out once again.

* * *

It wasn't until what seemed an eternity that Terra woke up again. She let out a pained groan and opened her eyes once again. Her vision cleared and she stared up at the open hole in the ceiling where sunlight.

Terra let out a sound that sounded like a mixture between a grunt, a whimper, and a shriek. "Who in the world thought it was a good idea to have a bright light _right above_ my eyes?" Her voice came out as a faint whisper.

"Why can't I hear my voice? Why does everything on my body hurt? Why do I look so odd?" She voiced her questions, still looking around her with curiosity.

"Terra! What're you doing up?" Jack (though he looked more like a blue and white blob to Terra) rushed into the room.

"I'm not up!" She cried out, but clutched her throat, scolding herself for trying to talk at loud volumes.

"Lay back down. Ombric says you're not even supposed to be awake!" Jack ordered, pulling up a chair and sitting backwards on it.

"What can I say? I'm a rebel." She smirked, but grimaced from a pain in her heart.

"Ombric says that there's decay slowly making its way to your heart. You're in bad condition. I've never seen you like this." Jack admitted, sounding fearful.

"I'm fine, Jack." Terra waved it off.

"You really aren't. I refuse to let you move an inch without my permission." Jack nodded.

"Since when did you care?"

"You can't take care of yourself."

"Yes, I-"

"No. Not always."

"Jack, I'm the Guardian of Courage! I'm sure I can handle myself!" She clasped a hand over her mouth, realizing what she just said.

Jack looked dumbfounded. "You remember?"

"What? I have no idea about what you're talking about!" Terra laughed and acted dumb.

"You remember!" Jack smiled widely. Terra nodded and looked away from Jack.

"So that means you remember your family?"

Terra nodded.

"So what are -no- were they like?"

"T-they're dead. I don't want to talk about it." She stated dejectedly.

Jack noticed Terra's reaction. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's just I don't like talking about my family..."

"So then can you tell me about your home?"

A smile lit up Terra's thin, sickly face. "I lived on the constellation Helarctos in the galaxy Ara Porphyrion. The constellation consisted of one gigantic city. We had huge buildings, thousands of feet high and they were made of some sort of material that shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight! My family and I normally traveled around in a dark blue and gold carriage pulled by beautiful horses made literally out of stars.

"Sometimes, whenever I was angry, or sad, I would take my Star Sailer and would just simply sail around the constellations. Oh, the beautiful comets and galaxies and nebula I would see! Sometimes I would come across Ursa Major and Minor and we would just sit and talk. Now that I remember what my home used to be like, I now realize that...I miss it. I'm wondering now if it's the same." She smiled at the bittersweet memories and sniffled.

"Are you okay, Terra?" Jack sounded concerned.

Terra made a face. "Why do you ask?"

"Terra, you're crying." Jack pointed out.

"What?" Terra swept away the hot tears that stained her face. "Oh..."

"Nature!" The remaining Season Sprites cried out with hopeful smiles stood at the door.

"I think you owe Cerelia a thanks." Jack stated with a smile.

"I think you owe me a thousand thanks." Cerelia said, handing Terra the gold locket that Sephtis stole.

"How?" Terra smiled, looking at the locket in her hands.

"You told me I had to get out of the castle. I found some stairs leading to a room and that was the first thing I saw. I thought you wanted it."

"I thought I'd never see this again..." Terra stared at the image inside. It was a picture of her father, mother, Ludo and her, standing with smiles on their faces. The picture reminded Terra that someway, she'd have to defeat her own brother. She didn't know what to think about that. Maybe she'd ask Ombric.

A yawn broke off her thoughts.

"Guys, I think Nature needs some sleep." August suggested quietly.

"Oh yeah." Cerelia nodded.

"Thank you, everyone." Terra said and tucked herself in, quickly dozing off.

 **Yay, a nice, calming chapter. Gosh, writing the description of Terra's home makes me want to make some fanart. It would consists of stick figures and scribbles. Anybody good at fanart out there?**

 **Winteril: thanks! I wasn't sure how that plot twist would work out, but now that I look back at it, I really like it!**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: yeah, maybe I'll have the Jack/Terra chapter in two chapters :) Terra needs to talk to Ombric and Nightlight first :)**


	19. Chapter 19

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 19_

 **by Joyfulelf**

"Ombric." Terra greeted the wizard as he walked into the room.

"I could sense you were needing me, Terra. What is the problem?" Ombric summoned a chair and sat down.

Terra sighed. "What do I do?"

"And what do you mean by that?"

"You know what I mean, Ombric."

Ombric hummed in thought, using the crystal on his staff to move the tassel of his pointed hat. "I believe you mean your brother, Ludovic?"

Terra only nodded. "I know I have to defeat him, but...I don't want to do that to my own brother."

"What do you believe could be the correct way to handle such a situation?"

"I honestly don't know..."

"What about your dad?" Nightlight suggested, hopping into the room from the window.

"What about Papa?" Terra asked, looking at Nightlight.

"You could ask your dad for help." Nightlight crossed his arms and looked at Terra.

"Absolutely not!" Terra yelled as loud as she could without it hurting, but then quieted down. "I don't need J-my Season Sprites knowing who my father is!"

"Why should you care, Terra?" Nightlight pondered.

"Because I don't want my Sprites hating me for who I am. Besides, if we asked Papa for help, he automatically will turn it down, hating you for destroying his plans."

"So what? You haven't seen your dad in a thousand years!"

"Well there's no need to rub it in." Terra muttered. "Anyway, if it means having to resort to Papa's help, then I'll deal with it later. Ombric, I was also wondering if there was any way you could get rid of whatever's threatening my life?" She asked, hoping for a good answer.

Ombric shook his head. "I may be able to alter your appearance, but with Sephtis in control of the staff, your life is in constant danger." Ombric placed a hand on Terra's shoulder. Her hair slowly converted to its regular ebony black, but with grey still at the tips.

"You still kinda look exhausted." Nightlight admitted, looking curiously at Terra.

Terra shrugged. "I still look a little better." She shakily stood. "I'm going to spend some time in the library." She informed, using a small pillar made of earth to help her out of the room.

* * *

"There's nothing! I can't find a single thing that even mentions Sephtis and his mold!" Terra slammed shut the book she was reading and muttered under her breath.

"Terra, you've been at this for three hours, you could at least take a break." Jack observed, looking at Terra who responded by blowing away her bangs. He sat from a distance, perched on his staff.

"I've got to do something before..." -she stopped herself from nearly saying Ludo- "Sephtis destroys everything." Terra returned to her books. "But there _has_ to at least be a little something about Sephtis. I just haven't found it yet." She stood from her chair and was about to return to looking for more books when Jack jumped out in front of her.

"Move, Jack." Terra insisted as she glared at Jack.

"Look, Terra. You're obviously putting way too much thought into this. Ombric said you needed to take it easy." Jack informed, acting calm and collected.

"I am taking it easy!" Terra cried out.

"No, you really aren't."

"But-" She was cut off when Jack clapped a hand over her mouth. She glared at Jack, clearly offended by how he acted.

"Ombric said to take it easy. You are not taking it easy. You're stressing over the fact that some guy isn't in a book! So what? Why don't we do something that takes your mind of it instead? Can't we, I don't know, go outside and figure out something to do there?" He suggested, slowly lowering his hands.

"I don't know Jack... It's cool outside and Cerelia hasn't had the opportunity to bring back spring to this part of the world yet... And there's snow." Terra mumbled. She hates the snow.

"How can you have an opinion of winter if you stay inside all the time? You're seriously missing out!" Jack jumped to a nearby window and peered out. The sun had already begun to set. It was the perfect opportunity. "C'mon!" He urged, offering his hand.

"But what if something bad happens?"

"I'll make sure none of that happens. Do you trust me Terra?"

Terra looked away nervously. There was still so much to be done... She looked back at Jack again and saw that his icy, bright blue eyes sparkled with not just fun, but also determination and confidence. He gave a kind smile, still holding out his hand. "I-I guess." She insecurely nodded and grabbed his hand.

Jack pulled her up and held her close before motioning for the wind to take the two exactly where Jack believed to be necessary. The wind swiftly obeyed and flew the two teenagers over clouds, across plains and to a place covered in snow and ice. A large, frozen waterfall hung from the cliff that Jack and Terra stood on.

 **Sorry this Author's Note is right in the middle, but I was listening to music while writing this and** ** _Just the Way You Are_** **by Piano Guys started playing right when I was writing this scene and it just made everything perfect. I advise you listen to it as well while reading this.**

"What is this place?" Terra asked in amazement, wondering how it was possible that not a sound could be heard.

"You call it Norway, I call it Awesome Snowball place!" Jack laughed before attacking Terra with a snowball.

"Hey!" Terra cried out as she laughed. "I think Norway's a better name, though."

"Oh, technicalities." He scoffed. "I laugh and throw snowballs at them." He continued to attack Terra with more snowballs.

"Are you mocking me?" Terra questioned, give Jack an odd look.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." He shrugged, and laughed nonetheless. "Oh, and here's another cool thing!" He hopped down from off the cliff and landed on the frozen lake near the waterfall. "It's more fun if you fly down instead of just climbing down instead!"

Terra shrugged. "If you insist..." She backed up cartwheeled off the edge of cliff and free falling down the side of the cliff. Terra landed a little ways away from the lake on her feet. She bowed, waiting for an applause.

"It's official: you're a show-off." Jack stated.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Terra smiled. She looked at Jack who seemed to be effortlessly skating around the lake.

"How are you doing that?" Terra questioned.

"It's easy! You wanna try?" Jack offered, gently placing down his staff and skating over to Terra.

"Are you sure? It looks hard..." She stared at the lake cautiously.

"I'll help you." He offered his hands.

Terra set her hands on Jack's and she stepped out onto the ice. Jack slowly pulled her along, giving a reassuring smile.

Terra couldn't explain it. Something about the beautiful silence of it all made her heart pound. Or was she just that nervous about slipping and falling? Maybe it was Jack's reassuring smile.

 _Stop being stupid, Terra._ She scolded herself, not noticing how she hadn't fallen yet. She was actually skating! Terra looked at Jack again and she realized something. Jack had remained by her side ever since the beginning. Why would he do that? She had rejected his help time after time. Why would anyone want to help someone like that? Could it be that he actually _cared_ for her.

 _No, that's insane. He probably doesn't even know what romantic love even feels like. Jack's just doing all this to see me smile._ She nodded, trying to reassure herself.

"I'm going to let go. You'll try by yourself now." Jack informed and slowly let go.

"Wait, what? No, Jack. Jack! Jack, I can't do this by myself!" She said and struggled to stand on the ice. She landed on her backside with a gentle thud.

"Try it again Terra." Jack smiled.

Terra grumbled under her breath. "I can't do this Jack."

"Just try it again."

She huffed. "Fine." She slowly stood and urged herself forward, expecting to fall down again. Instead, she was still up and skating.

"There you go, you got it!" Jack said encouragingly.

"I...I got it?" She looked at her feet and then up at Jack, a huge smile on her face. "I got it!" She laughed and tried to skate over to Jack.

"I think you should slow down, Terra." Jack advised, seeing Terra coming towards him at an extremely fast pace.

"Jack, I can't stop!"

"Terra-"

"Look out!" Terra yelped and ran into Jack causing the both of them to fall with Terra on top of Jack.

Jack laughed. "We're going to have to work on braking." He said. Then noticed how close he was to Terra. The wielder of nature's face was bright red and just inches away from Jack's.

"U-u-um, I'm r-r-really s-sorry, I didn't-didn't mean to, um, run into you." She jumped up from her awkward spot and his her face.

"It's fine, Terra." Jack laughed, trying to hide his blush.

"I-it's really not. I-"

"Terra." Jack grabbed Terra's hand. "It's alright." He assured.

Terra stared at Jack, not saying anything. Unknowingly, the two inched closer and-

"Oi, you two!" A certain Australian rabbit called from the cliff above. "We're helping Cerelia spread Spring and here you are, in this blasted frozen tundra, wasting time!" Bunny said between shivers.

"Right." Terra nodded and awkwardly climbed up to where Bunny and the others stood and Jack silently followed.

"Terra, eh mate?" Bunny quietly asked Jack, giving him an odd look.

Jack made a face. "I don't think so, Bunny. I'm just trying to get her to smile."

Bunny only hummed thoughtfully and climbed back into North's sleigh.

 **Terra: Hello, everybody. I am here substituting for Joyfulelf because she sounds terrible because she is sick.**

 **Me: (from a distance) I do not sound terrible!**

 **Terra: Yeah, she does. So anyway... I'll be reading what she typed out for me. Winteril: Ooh, your fanfiction sounds awesome! And I've heard about NaNoWriMo, but I don't know exactly what to do. xXBloodJewelXx: Here's your chapter! I love how it turned out!**


	20. Chapter 20

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 20_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Terra laughed as she wisked by on the wind.

"Keep up, Jack!" She teased and spread her arms wide, making the sun to shine a little brighter.

"You sure are happy." Jack stated, looking at the overjoyed Terra who stopped to stand on top of a fence post that separated a dirt road from a grassy field.

"Of course! I always love helping my Season Spirits spread the seasons!" She smiled brightly and watched as Sandy and North helped Cerelia spread grass seeds. Tooth was helping a new family of baby birds and Bunny was helping by planting a few flowers here and there. The remaining team members (well, besides Jack) were trying to blow or melt away the snow.

"But you're never 'happy, happy, joy, joy' when you're helping us with the seasons." Cerelia pointed out.

"So what? Spring's my favorite Season!" Terra smiled. "There's so much hope and new life. It's hard to not smile, looking at everything." She whispered something indiscernible and hopped off the fence post before walking through the field.

"It is nice to see you smiling, though." Nightlight added with a grin.

Jack rolled his eyes and huffed. "What's so good about Spring? Now winter's over, there's no need for me anymore."

"Everybody has to get there own time, Jack." August explained.

"Yeah, like, it can't be Summer all the time." Solstice said, brushing off her sundress.

"Well it can, but I wouldn't let that happen." Terra said, fixing a sunbeam on a patch of snow. "The world requires balance, just like life requires..." The word 'death' seemed to catch in her throat. She just didn't want to say it. "I believe you get the gist of it. We'd better hurry on, North promised hot cocoa and cookies as soon as we were done!" She smiled, and summoned for a cloud to bring her higher into the air so she could get a good scope of the area.

Jack looked oddly at where Terra once stood. "What happened to Terra when she trailed off talking about 'balance'?" He asked Nightlight who stood beside him.

"Terra's always had a hard time dealing with the subject of death. It's best to just leave her alone." Cerelia cut in and dropped the subject.

Jack furrowed his brow in suspicion, wondering if Terra's sensitive behavior concerning death was because of her family. He shook his head, however, and let the subject drop for now.

* * *

 **At North's Workshop**

* * *

The Guardians were all laughing and relaxing, sipping their eggnog and hot chocolate as they relaxed from a hard day of welcoming a delayed spring.

"We seem ta be helping other Spirits often." Bunny stated while he busied himself with finishing up yet another egg.

"That's only because Sephtis had covered the whole world with his mold. Normally I have just about everything ready before Spring starts and Nature helps me finish the rest." Cerelia explained, munching on her cookie.

"Speaking of which, where's Terra?" Tooth asked, looking around the room. A few of the mini tooth fairies Tooth had brought with her shrugged.

"She was here when we got our hot chocolate..." August stated worriedly.

Jack sighed. "I'll go find Terra." He rose from his chair and walked out of the room.

* * *

"I don't know what to do. Can you at least give me a sign, or something?" Terra sounded desperate and on the verge of tears. She sat on the roof of North's workshop, her legs dangling over the edge. She held her locket in both her hands and directed her gaze towards the stars above her.

Jack jumped onto the roof and inched towards Terra. "You look a little lonely." He said, leaning on his staff.

"I'd rather be alone right now." She stated, snapping the locket shut.

"You know that's not gonna happen."

"Jack-"

"Why do you shut people out, Terra? Why are you the happiest person one minute and the next you're the most miserable person on the planet?" Jack voiced his thoughts, looking at Terra expectantly.

Terra choked out a sob. Her shoulders shook as she quietly cried. Jack stood, dumbfounded. He had never seen Terra like this: so vulnerable, so...sad. The sight worried Jack, making him wonder if it was something he said, seeing Terra sad made Jack feel many strange emotions. He didn't know what to do. Should he comfort Terra, or just leave her to cry alone?

Before Jack could think any further, he walked over to Terra, knelt, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Terra turned around and threw her arms around Jack before burying her face in his shoulder. Jack was completely surprised. Terra was actually _hugging_ him? He furrowed his brow and hesitantly wrapped his arms around Terra.

"Thank you, Jack. Thank you for always being there for me." Terra whispered through hiccups. Jack simply smiled and held Terra close, not ever wanting to let her go.

* * *

Sephtis stared out one window of the castle, his thin face contorted by anger and bitterness. He clutched the blacked staff that belonged to Terra and pondered whether or not he should just snap the staff in half and spare him from any further conflict with his sister.

 _No._ He thought. _I'll make her suffer before fully killing her..._

"Well, well, well... My son can actually do something right." A voice whispered from the shadows.

"I can do a lot things successfully, _Dad._ " Sephtis spat the sentence with venom. The sneer he wore was replaced with an arrogant grin. "Terra remembers now."

"What?!" The voice yelled the question as black sand snaked from the shadows and attacked Sephtis, pinning him against the wall. The owner of the black sand melted away from the shadows and appeared in front of Sephtis, his eclipse-like eyes filled with hatred. This was Pitch Black, the Nightmare King. "When I gave you the teeth, I specifically told you to _not give them to Terra_! Can you do nothing right?!" Pitch yelled, looking at his son with disgust.

"She had to know sooner or later, Dad." Sephtis shrugged, speaking nonchalantly.

"Terra _never_ needed to know!"

"It's too late now... Ombric will most likely try to ask for your assistance."

Pitch backed away and shook his head. "No... Terra can't see me like this... Why did you do this?!"

"I simply believed you would like meeting each other again. It has been since, what, before the Dark Ages that you've seen each other? That's more than enough time."

"Terra would hate me."

"But how would you know that?"

"How would you know otherwise?! I've seen the way you treat each other! That's the only thing you're familiar with!" Pitch stopped to quiet down. "But, then again, that _is_ your darkest fear." He added with an evil smirk.

"What?" Sephtis snapped.

"Sir." Kurse walked into the room, interrupting the conversation.

"What is it Kurse?" Sephtis questioned. He writhed away from the black sand's death grip and strode toward his faithful henchman.

"The Guardians have brought back spring."

Sephtis seethed, but took a deep breath. "We have discussed this. We'll move onto the next step of the plan..."

 **Yeah, sorry about the extremely late update. I was kinda sick and was dealing with really bad writer's block. But here's your chapter! And whooo! We've hit the twenty mark!**

 **Winteril: Yay! Reaction Review! Oh my gosh, it's hilarious! Stop making me laugh at seemingly nothing! Did I almost make you cry happy tears? I have succeeded in my career as a Fanfiction writer! And does your sister also like RotG?**


	21. Chapter 21

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 21_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Terra stared at the ceiling of a room in North's workshop. She couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, images of her once happy family haunted her mind and the words 'not believed in' repeated themselves over and over again.

This never happened before. Why should it happen now?

She grumbled and scrambled out of bed before stomping out of the room.

"What're you doing?" Nightlight's question made her jump. He stood outside the door with his staff in hand, the crystal on top brightly glowing.

"Getting something to eat, it always helps me go to sleep. Why are you standing outside the door to my room?" She asked, shielding her eyes from the bright light emanating from Nightlight's staff.

"There's something wrong with your room, I can sense it." Nightlight stated, his normally fun attitude completely disappearing.

"I thought you knew Sandy doesn't give me dreams." Terra said, rubbing her eyes.

"No, it's not that. I don't know what it is..." She grumbled. "I'm gonna get some hot chocolate."

"Be careful." Nightlight instructed.

"The worst thing I can do is burn my tongue." She waved off the warning and made her way to the small kitchen.

A few elves sat on the counter protectively holding a platter of cookies, a ring of cookie crumbs lining their mouths. Terra laughed at the scene and grabbed a mug after rummaging around the cabinets for a few minutes. She successfully made herself a cup of hot cocoa and made her way to the small living room.

"I never would have assumed you staying here." A voice made the wielder of nature jump, nearly dropping her cup. She looked around her, searching for the voice.

"Over here, dear." The voice beckoned, the owner standing in the middle of the room.

"Papa... You know you're not welcomed here." Terra whispered, taking a step away from her father.

"Not even by my own daughter?" Pitch asked.

"That's not what I meant, Papa." Terra smiled faintly.

"I see what Ludo did to you."

"I didn't think you cared." Terra admitted shamefully.

"What makes you think that?"

"Papa, we haven't seen each other in over three thousand years. Why wouldn't I have assumed you didn't care?"

"I-"

"Terra? Who are you talking to?" Jack wandered into the room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Nightlight had suddenly woken him up just to keep Terra safe, and although the Frost Sprite cared about his sleep, he cared about Terra more.

Jack walked into the room and stopped in his tracks once he saw who Terra was really talking to.

Pitch only glared at Jack, saying nothing.

"What are you doing here Pitch?" Jack asked the question through clenched teeth.

"Terra didn't tell you?" Pitch seemed amused.

"Stop." Terra ordered.

"Oh? And why should I, dearest?" Pitch questioned, a crooked smile twisting his lips.

"Stop it." Terra only answer sternly, staring at Pitch.

"Terra? What's he talking about?" Jack questioned, looking at Terra with concern.

"Oh, I have no need for times such as these. I've come to accomplish a mission." Pitch snapped his fingers and the ground underneath Terra turned to shadow.

"Jack!" Terra squeaked, falling to wherever the shadow led to.

"Terra!" Jack called out, diving into the shadow and grabbing Terra's hand before falling in himself.

The two fell into the shadow and continued to fall for what seemed to be an endless amount of time.

Jack held Terra, bracing himself for the fall.

The two landed on the ground with a loud thud. It was completely dark, and wherever the two teenagers were smelled dank and musty.

"Oh, it seems my dad held up his end of the bargain!" An all too familiar voice laughed at one end of the room.

"LUDOVIC!" Terra jumped from where she laid and raced over to the other side of the room. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO PAPA?!"

"Curb your anger, sister. You wouldn't want Frost to see you act like this." Sephtis laughed, appearing and reappearing around the dark room.

Terra ignored this teasing comment and produced electrical energy that light up the room.

"Oh no, no, no. None of that." Sephtis laughed and extinguished the lightning with him mold. "Now as for Dad, I didn't do anything to him. He _wanted_ to do this."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Terra screamed. Jack stood in the center of room, completely confused by what was going on.

"But I'm not. He paid me a visit, personally telling me that he needed revenge on a certain _Frost Spirit._ He said he saw my fantastic work in completing all of this and asked for my help. I only said there was a condition. But I'll leave you to wallow in your self pity. That _is_ the only thing you have left." With a laugh, Sephtis disappeared, leaving a few torches lit on the walls of the room.

Terra looked like a defenseless, small child. She she turned to Jack, her expression begging for some sort of assistance. She was only met with a glare from the Frost Spirit, who looked like he had figured everything out.

"When you're done with all the secrets, you can try talking to me. You know where I'll be." And with that, Jack stomped away, leaving Terra by herself.

 **Good evening, folks. It appears this ship is going through some tough waters. All we can do now is to see what happens. Totally serious when I say that this thought *just* occurred to me. What can I say? I'm into torturring pairings, but that means that they grow closer! (Eventually, maybe. You'll just have to wait and see...)**

 **Winteril: Oh. My. Goodness. I thought I was the only one who watched movies three billion times! Glad to know I'm not the only one!**


	22. Chapter 22

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 22_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Terra rubbed her hands together and aimed them at the seemingly endless ceiling. One tiny spark of electricity exploded but fizzled out.

She growled, seeing her one-hundred fifty-fourth try had utterly failed. Again.

"This. Should. Be. Working!" With every word, she threw a fist towards the ceiling, small spurts of wind tried to find some way to escape. She let a frustrated yell and punched the air with both fists, only a knee-length column of rock to be made.

"Why aren't you working?!" Terra nearly screamed the question as she dropped to her knees.

"Give it up, Nature. We're not getting out of here." Jack said begrudgingly with his arms crossed over his chest. He sat, hunched against one wall, staring off into space.

Terra growled and sat crisscrossed on the floor, her arms crossed over her chest.

"There has to be _some_ way to get out of here!" She determined, gritting her teeth.

"Nope. No other way." Jack stated with a shrug.

"You could at least help!" Terra snapped, glaring at Jack.

"Why would I want to help the _daughter of Pitch Black?"_ Jack spat the question, glaring straight back at Terra.

Terra looked hurt for a minute, but that expression quickly faded into one of anger. "Well, fine then! You can sit here all you want and be angry, but I won't care! I need to find some way to get out of here!" Her voice cracked and she held back a sob. She heaved a frustrated sigh before scrambling to her feet and walked over to one wall.

Terra planted her feet into the mushy ground. She cracked her knuckles and glared at the wall. "Maybe if I concentrate really hard, I can..." She threw her fists towards the wall, which only produced a tiny crack.

"Come on!" Terra yelled and placed her hand on the wall, trying to feel for some substance that could hinder her control.

"You'll never-"

"Look, I'm trying to do this. In order to do this, I need-" -She choked out a sob and dropped to her knees- "Forget it." Terra said through tears. "You don't believe in me, anymore..." She whispered and curled up into a small ball, hiding her face.

Jack made a face. "Wait what?"

"Guardians get their power from those who believe in them. Obviously my father doesn't believe in me anymore. You were the only person left. I can't manipulate nature anymore because you don't believe in me." Terra explained, struggling to stand. She walked a few feet then collapsed onto the ground.

"Terra!" Jack said worriedly, rushing to Terra's side.

Terra snickered. "I knew you still cared." She whispered with a giggle.

Jack looked disgusted and walked away from the giggling teenager.

"Jack, stop ignoring me!" Terra cried out, a look of concern written all over her face.

"You could have told me." Jack stated, sitting in front of Terra.

"And what if you had hated me for who my family is? I didn't want to risk it!"

"So keeping so many secrets was the plan?! Why even decide to do that!?" Terra remained silent. Jack walked up to Terra. "Tell me why!"

"I-I can't..." Terra hung her head.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Jack mumbled and stalked away, grumbling to himself all the way.

"But, Jack-"

"Don't even talk to me, Nature."

"Congratulations, all of you. You have managed to successfully drive each other away." Sephtis' voice boomed throughout the room. A door on one side of the room opened and natural sunlight poured in.

"Yes, you've been in the vault for only a day, but you've already accomplished all that I needed." Sephtis appeared in the doorway.

"How can I trust you?" Jack questioned, looking suspiciously at Sephtis.

"I solemnly swear that I won't attack you before you escape, Frost." Sephtis mocked a bow, a smirk curling his lips.

"We shouldn't trust him." Terra stated.

"I know I can't trust _you_ , Nature." Jack narrowed his eyes at Terra. He walked out of the opening and immediately used the wind to wisk him away once he was outside.

Sephtis appeared behind Terra. "Aww. And to think that my sister was actually beginning to love someone. It's such a shame that he'll hate you for the rest of your life."

Terra whipped around to face her brother. "Shut up! This is all your fault!"

"No, Terra. This is your fault."

Terra glared at her brother, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, her brother was right.

 **Yay, Thanksgiving break! Boo sucky filler chapters. Don't worry! Next chapter will hopefully be awesome.**

 **Winteril: :) sometimes I'll watch RotG in our living room and my mom will come in and she'll be like "You're watching that again?" And I'll be like "You don't understand how great this movie is." I've got bits and pieces of the movie script memorised. Some scenes I can quote perfectly, while others I can only quote some :)**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: Once again, thank you for the suggestions, they're really great!**

 **Guest (from two chapters ago because I hadn't gotten your review until after I updated chapter 21): Thank you so much!**


	23. Chapter 23

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 23_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Jack needed some way to escape Terra for the time being. He hated seeing Terra so heartbroken, but he also hated that she had kept so many secrets.

For now, he just needed time alone with his thoughts.

He landed in Antarctica, his favorite snowy place. He knew for a fact that Terra would've absolutely hated this place.

Terra... Why couldn't he get her out of his mind?! It annoyed him so much... But it also made him smile like an idiot.

But Terra...her dad was Pitch Black. Her brother was the same person who was trying to kill her.

Jack plopped down into the snow, holding his chin in his hands. He wished he wasn't so lonely. Sure, he needed to clear his head, but he could clear his head with someone else with him. Specifically Terra. Terra always rid him of the loneliness.

Yeah, playing with the kids of Burgess was fun, and actually being believed in made him jump for joy. His fellow Guardians were always fun to hang with but he still felt lonely. Terra never made Jack feel like that...

Jack thought about the first time he actually made Terra smile and laugh. The sight made Jack's heart soar. When he had first met Terra, she was just a boring girl who only cared about the task the Man in the Moon have her. Now she was a girl who cared about the people around her. She hated to see the people around her hurt.

Was that why she kept the fact that Pitch and Sephtis were her family? Did Terra actually care about what Jack thought about her?

No. Terra wasn't an idiot. An idiot wouldn't care about what a simple Frost Spirit thought about her.

But then again, this was the girl who hated sleeping without a tent because she felt like she was always being watched. Jack had known this from Terra talking in her sleep, which she often did so particularly loudly. He was surprised by this, wondering if she always felt like this.

He never asked Terra that though. Maybe it was just some strange dream. Even if Jack thought about this, he severely doubted that, though. Something just made him do so, especially after what had happened recently.

What happened to Terra now? It was clearly a stupid decision to leave her alone. He cared for her more than he could understand. Maybe she felt the same way... Maybe he'd try to ask her.

An all too familiar voice laughed in front of Jack. The Frost Spirit jumped to his feet, his staff in hand.

"I must admit: it's a little surprising to see _Jack Frost_ in love!" Sephtis stated with a suspicious smile.

"You sound a lot like your dad." Jack narrowed his eyes at Sephtis, his staff held out in front of him.

"I _am_ his son after all." Sephtis shrugged. "But no, I am not Pitch Black. He's dealing, with more...difficult circumstances."

"And how'd you team up together? Terra looked shocked when you told her you two teamed up."

"Ah, back to using actual names, I see. I must tell you that she's no better now that you actually want to apologize." Sephtis tossed Jack a black glass ball. The picture showed Terra leaning against a tree, tears streaming down her face. She stopped in her efforts to move through the forest and covered her face with both hands, quietly sobbing. The sight made Jack's heart hurt. He couldn't bear to see Terra like this.

"Oh, you do care." Sephtis scoffed. "Young love is disgusting." He strolled through the snow, his arms crossed behind his back.

"What would you know?" Jack asked calmly.

"Contrary to popular belief, I am, well was, able to love. I think I'd be able to sense when my sister is in love, after all. This isn't my life story, though. Tell me a little about yourself, Frost."

"Maybe I can braid your hair while I'm at it."

Sephtis scoffed. "Ever the sarcastic one. Fine then. When I was still alive, my name was Ludovic Pitchiner. You can see where my father received his name. Nevertheless, I was chosen by the Man in the Moon, for some extremely idiotic reason; most likely to tie up loose ends between me and my sister. Obviously he didn't care that much, because literally the only thing he told me was Sephtis. That was the only word the Man in the Moon ever told me.

"My sister was soon chosen as a Guardian. I won't admit how I felt about this certain occurrence; I'll only tell you that things became...problematic. The Dark Ages arrived, and there was more tension between me and my father, seeing as how he and I were immortal."

"I hope you'll forgive me for not feeling sorry for you." Jack said, leaning against his staff.

"And yet you have sympathy on my sister, my pathetic, little sister."

"She's not pathetic!" Jack snapped.

"Ooh. Defending her now? What would she say? 'Frost, I don't need your sympathy'."

"She's not like that anymore!"

"Of course she isn't. Now she's a pathetic sob-story. That's what you made her, after all."

"It's your fault!"

Sephtis laughed. "Funny. She said the same thing. You two are so alike, it's literally killing me."

"Maybe that's what you deserve!" Jack countered, glaring at Sephtis.

"It's such a pity, Frost. Here I thought you would actually see my problem. That can be fixed. A certain girl needs to be taken out of the question."

"Don't even think about hurting Terra!" Jack growled.

"I can't say that I won't do that, Frost. You should've stayed with her when you had the chance."

Without a word, Jack attacked Sephtis with a swipe of his staff. "Why do this?! Why make her suffer?!" He yelled, sending spikes of ice through the air.

"Terra needs to learn what it feels like to be hated by someone she thought loved her." Sephtis growled, sending walls of rot to push back Jack. "It was going to be you, but you're too stupid to follow instructions."

"You said it yourself: I like to make a mess of things." Jack smirked, looking around him to find Sephtis.

"This _is_ truly interesting..." Sephtis stared at the gigantic black and blue spiked ice sculpture. "Such power... Such a pity that you would waste such a resource."

Before Jack could think, he was knocked out by Sephtis.

 **I'm back! And with a cliffhanger! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Thank you to xXBloodJewelXx for this chapter!**

 **Winteril: Nooooooo! You can't be sick! You should get better really quickly!**


	24. Chapter 24

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 24_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

"I can do this!" Terra said, sniffling and wiping her nose with the back of her hands. "There has to be _someone_ who believes in me..." She determined, taking a deep breath. A good five minutes of crying succeeded in making her feel at least a little bit better.

"It'd be best to give up while you're at it, dear. You won't make them believe in you." Sephtis spoke, leaning his arms against a twisted tree branch.

"Papa." Terra whipped around to face her brother. "What do you want?!" She snapped, glaring at Sephtis.

"Relax, Sister." Sephtis held his hands up, as if he were surrendering. "I've come to offer a deal."

"I don't care." She snapped, turning away from Sephtis.

"Oh, I think you want to hear what I have in mind..." Sephtis appeared in front of Terra. "I have a certain... Frost Spirit in my custody-"

A look of hatred flashed through Terra's eyes. "If you even think about-"

"Ah, ah, ah." Sephtis held up one finger to silence his sister. "I wasn't even thinking of doing so. As long as you honor the agreement."

"And that would be?" Terra questioned, her fists tightly clenched.

"Your necklace." Sephtis responded, holding out an expectant hand. Terra's hand hovered over the necklace.

"Why do you want the locket?" She asked, masking the fear in her face.

"I am aware that Ombric imbued the necklace with some sort of magic that give you power and the ability to fight before you left Santoff Claussen. I want the locket." Sephtis stopped to stare at Terra. "You can't resist. Not while the Guardian of Fun is in my possession. I would suggest you give it up quickly, before I change my mind."

Terra felt lost. She couldn't risk Jack's life; she couldn't even think about that. She sighed and reached behind her to take off the necklace. After giving over the necklace, she gave a pleading look to Sephtis. "Please let Jack go."

A wicked grin spread on Sephtis's thin face. "No. You're no longer a threat to me. You should have realized what a stupid decision that would have been. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make Dad proud." Sephtis turned around and began walking away.

"But Ludo-"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" Sephtis roared, spinning around to face Terra. He snapped his fingers and mold enveloped Terra and transport away.

Terra worriedly glance around her, only to be surrounded by a ring of decaying trees, a large tree standing in the middle, decaying as the seconds went by.

"Sephtis! Papa! Nightlight! ANYBODY?! Where are you guys?!" She screamed before running over to the ring of trees, only to be knocked back by a black wall. Terra looked around and picked herself and stomped over to the dead tree in the center. In a fit of rage, Terra kicked the trunk of the tree.

"Why can't I do anything right?!" She yelled the question and plopped down near the tree. She broke down into sobs. Terra hated that she had been crying so much lately. It made her feel like some sort of sob-story cry-baby. She couldn't help it. Now, because of her, Jack was in danger. Terra wished there was something she could do. Little did she see the wilting tree glowing a bright, healthy green. Once Terra noticed this, she yelped and jumped away from the tree.

The whole tree was beginning to glow a bright green. It immediately grew, as if the decay hadn't effected it at all. It grew leaves, showing it was a willow tee.

"The Tree of Life..." Terra muttered under her breath. She read about the mystical Tree of Life in many of the booms in Ombric's library, and she even wanted to have it as a last resort, if only she could find it. It was standing right in front of her, standing healthily. Terra touched the tree, a surge of power washing over her.

She swiftly turned around and punched the air with her fists. Two gigantic pillars of rock pierced the air. Terra couldn't help but smile in victory.

"I have my power back!" She squealed, jumping up and down in happiness. Terra planted her feet into the ground and punched the air in front of her, columns of earth attacking the black, transparent wall.

"C'mon!" She cried out before punching the air with both fists at the same time. She curtly nodded, running out of the bubble like prison cell.

"I'm coming, Jack." Terra said determinedly but using the wind to whisk her away.

 **Whew! Awesome Terra is back! You go girl! And it's officially Christmas season! That means five cups of cocoa and Christmas music and decorations! Plus, it's snowing outside! I love winter so much... :3**

 **Jack: That's only because I bring the winter.**

 **Me: Exactly, you little Frost Spirit. :3 But aaaaaaaaanyway, we have xXBloodJewelXx to thank for this chapter. If it weren't for you, this Fanfiction would be dull.**

 **Onto answering the reviews!**

 **Daringwolf2000: Yeah, Jack! Why you be so difficult! Jack (in the background) Do look at me, you're the author.**

 **xXBloodJewelXx: Why thank you! You are the one who came up with the ideas!**

 **Winteril: Jack, you're so helpful. *pats head* But why you take away laptop? The laptop is life! Oh yeah, Nightlight and the other Guardians are kinda busy trying to keep the children safe. I guess I should've put that in there... *awkward laugh* Terra, put that in the list of editing stuff. Terra: (in the distance) We've already got here pages of editing stuff! Me: Doesn't matter. I'm not perfect. But aaaaaanyway, good luck on your tests. Bleh :P tests. Shiny word thing XD so adorable. What'cha think is gonna happen, Winter?**

 **Yep, that's all of them :3 I love you guys. Now it's announcement time! Terra, get me my clipboard! Right, #1 We've almost hit 2,000 views! Yaaaaaay! #2 I can't believe it, but this Fanfiction is almost over. 2-3 chapters sounds right :( I feel emptiness inside me when I say that. What'll I do after this is over? Now I'm depressed... I need hot chocolate. And at least three really good movies. And a really comfy blanket.**


	25. Chapter 25

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 25_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Terra hid in the rotting foliage around Sephtis's castle. Everything she brushed up against or touched was converting back to its original healthy state, so she tried to keep her interaction with everything on the down low.

She took a deep breath and smiled ever so slightly, relieved to have some sort of control now. Terra bolted from her hiding place to the section of castle under the window of her hidden room. Using the wind to hoist her in the air, she climbed into the window, observing that Sephtis had turned the room into his own reading of sorts, though it was much bigger that the actual room used to be. Some way, Sephtis had learned how to build without rooms collapsing.

Terra scouted around her, trying to see if Jack was in this room. The Frost Spirit stood in one corner of the room, his wrists bound to the wall. He hung limply by his wrists, cuts and bruises across his body.

"Jack!" Terra whispered, running over to where Jack was bound. She let out a sigh of relief, happy to see he was safe.

"Terra..." Jack winced from a sharp pain.

"I'm going to get you out of here. Just hold on."

"No. You have to get out of here." Jack insisted weakly.

"Absolutely not. Not without you." Terra broke one lock and began working on the other.

"Terra... Sephtis will kill you."

"I don't care. You can't die."

"No. You're the one who can't die. I'll be fine."

"No, you won't. Where's your staff?" Terra scanned around the room once again in search of the staff.

"Sephtis took it from me when he brought me here."

Terra gently picked up Jack. "Can you walk?" She asked kindly. Jack weakly nodded.

"I can try, but my powers are gone."

A look of worry flashed across Terra's face, but she shook it off. "We'll be fine. I have to speak with Sephtis."

"No, Terra, he'll kill you!" Jack exclaimed, pushing himself off Terra. He collapsed and would have hit the ground were it not for Terra catching him.

"I don't matter anymore. The world needs my help. That's the only thing that matters." She determined, unwavering. "Let's go." She hobbled to the stairs with Jack in tow and walked down.

The mold guards were missing, and Terra guessed where they were hiding. She walked to the throne room, took a deep breath, and inched in.

It was a dimly lit room with a globe standing in the center of the room. Small, tinkling green lights were scattered across the continents, but one by one, they were all going out.

 _It would only take a matter of minutes until every single one of the lights were out... Then I'd be completely vulnerable._ Terra thought to herself, trying to swallow a nervous lump in her throat.

"It would appear the Frost Spirit is the damsel in distress in this story." Sephtis laughed, appearing on the other side of the globe. "Do you like it? It was Dad's idea. Sometimes the both of you can be useful, but that's not often. It's a shame the both of you won't be leaving this fair castle..." Sephtis stated with a wicked smirk.

"Give me the staff Ludo, and reverse whatever you've done to Jack." She demanded, looking at her brother with hatred.

"I'm afraid that won't happen, Terra. His staff is who knows where, shattered into a million pieces. He's dying, and there's nothing you can do."

"No..." Terra glanced at Jack, who looked a sickly pale; his skin warming up.

"I'll be fine." Jack assured, his voice coming out as a hoarse whisper.

"We'll both be fine..." Terra whispered to herself, very awards that she was lying. There was only one Guardian who wouldn't survive this and she knew who it was. Terra set Jack down on the ground, motioning for the earth to take him just outside the room.

 **Before we go any further, look up More Sad Songs By Brian Crain and listen to it while reading this. I know these are sad songs but they fit the mood perfectly.**

She held a firm stance, her arms held close.

"This will be quick." Sephtis stated pridefully. Terra said nothing.

Sephtis attacked with three blurbs of mold. Terra reacted with gusts of air with one hand, while motioning for a deluge of water from a nearby window with the other. Sephtis blocked off the water by plugging up the window, but more water strained through.

That was all Terra needed. She stared at the lights on the globe. Only ten were left.

She nodded, motioned for the water to carry her around the room, almost as if she were skating on the water itself.

"You think you're so smart." Septhis snapped, using the mold covered foundation of the room to attack in large chunks. Terra broke through them, staring at Sephtis with determination all the while.

She lost her footing and slid away a few feet. Sephtis took this opportunity to strike, but was cut off when Terra shrouded herself with a fortress of rocks.

Nine.

"Now Terra, it wouldn't be fair for you to hide behind your powers while I'm out in the open." Sephtis teased. Terra extended one arm towards the door of the castle. She concentrated, feeling a sort of energy surge in her hand. This was all going according to the plan.

She didn't reply with a witty comeback. she didn't reply at all. She only concentrated on the door until Sephtis crashed in.

"And what do you think you're doing?" He growled, grabbing the arm Terra had outstretched.

She said nothing, but replied with a fist of air that knocked Sephtis back.

Eight.

Terra ran along one edge of the room, taking weathered and worn stones from the wall and placing them as a barricade. She continued to focus on the doors of the room where Jack now stood against for some support. He looked confused, wondering how this would end.

Sephtis completely ignored Jack, and instead attacked the barricade with boulders of his own.

He seemed clueless, up until he looked at the globe. A wicked smile twisted Sephtis's lips and he stared at Terra, his attacks never faultering.

"Quite an interesting plan, Terra. Do tell me how you're going to escape this one." Sephtis continued with his teasing remarks.

Terra still remained silent, hiding behind her barricade.

Seven.

She needed three more minutes behind the barricade for the plan to succeed, at least, for the most part... Terra looked at the barricade, it swiftly crumbling and cracking due to the repeated attacks of Sephtis.

She took the boulders making up the barricade and held them up into the air before attacking Sephtis with them one by one.

Sephtis blocked every attack with the slice of his staff. The boulders crumbled and fell to the floor, now only little bits and pieces of gravel. Terra reacted by blowing Sephtis to one edge of the room and proceeded to attack with the water that had strained through the blocked window.

Six.

Terra stared back at Jack, who seemed to be standing on his own.

She held Sephtis back with powerful drafts of wind while concentrating on Jack. Terra believed she looked fine, but in all reality, her clothes were torn, her hair a mess, and her skin marred by cuts and scrapes. Jack looked more worried than confused.

 _Just a few more minutes... I've got just about enough of time._

Five.

Sephtis noticed Terra's look of contemplation. He attacked with blurbs of mold, catching Terra off guard once again.

She slid back, her footing still sure, but her attacks less hurtful.

Sephtis took this opportunity to attack once more, pushing Terra further and further away.

"You honestly think you're little salvation attempt with make people believe in you?! You're pathetic!" Sephtis roared, slamming Terra against a wall.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO AMAZING FOR TRYING TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF?!" Sephtis screamed the question.

Four.

"Not at all." Terra responded, slowly climbing to her feet.

Three.

She looked towards Jack, not bothering to hide the tears streaming down her face.

Two.

"I'm just trying to save the person I love." She said, her voice quavering. "I'm sorry." She mouthed, only making Jack even more confused.

One.

A sharp cracked echoed through the room. Terra's body jolted as if she were hit by one great shock of electricity. She crumbled to the floor.

"NOOOO!" She could heard Jack scream as he raced into the room. Sephtis threw the pieces of the broken staff to the ground and stalked away.

And then, everything went black.

 **What is this feeling I feel? *wipes face* I-I'm crying. My family is giving me a weird look. They're asking me why I'm crying. I say it's nothing...**

 **But it's not nothing...**

 **xXBloodJewelXx, I know what I said about incorporating your ideas, but I believed this took precedence.**

 **Goodbye for now, everyone. I must find a tissue... Maybe a good movie.**


	26. Chapter 26

_The Unseen Conflict_

 _Chapter 26_

 ** _by Joyfulelf_**

Sephtis casually sauntered into the mansion. Words could not describe how happy he was. It was almost an odd feeling.

He walked into the reading room of the mansion and kicked off his grey, hole-ridden boots. A mold being servant swept by and took the boots with it.

Sephtis sank into one of the cushy chairs and let out a relaxed sigh.

"Sir." Kurse appeared with a cup of tea.

"You're not a servant, Kurse." Sephtis said, taking the cup of tea and balancing it on the edge of the chair.

"Yes sir, but you are not yourself."

"I feel as if I have complete power of the entire world! Oh wait!" Sephtis smirked.

"And Terra...?"

Sephtis took a sip of the tea and gulped loudly. "Dead."

"What?" Pitch's voice rang from one corner of the room.

"It's not polite to spy, Dad."

"You killed Terra?!"

"Of course. And to think you believed this was for her good..." Sephtis evilly smiled, scrunched up in the chair he was sitting in.

"You promised she wouldn't be harmed!" Pitch growled, glaring at his son.

"I changed my mind. Our agreement changed as well. We agreed that you would assist me in making the Guardians pay for what they had done, and that included killing Terra, no matter the cost. I only believe that this bargain is fair."

"Since when have you acquired a sense of fairness, Ludovic?"

"My name is Sephtis. I would advise you to learn that before anything else happens to you." Sephtis sipped his tea. "Kurse, please escort my dad from the room. His presence is degrading enough as it is."

Kurse did so, but Pitch was already beginning to storm out the room.

"It's never this easy! The Guardians will avenge Terra, you can be sure of that!" Pitch stormed out of the room, slamming the double doors once he exited.

"You sound as if I should worry." Sephtis laughed. "The Guardians? I'd like to see them try."

* * *

The Guardians, Nightlight, and the remaining Season Spirits stood in the Warren, the one place that Terra wanted to be buried if she ever died. The place where she was buried in was secluded and hard to find.

Everyone stood in a large circle, a large rectangle of earth cut out of the ground. Beside the hole stood a wooden casket, topped with a large assortment of flowers.

The air was thick with sadness. No one bothered to speak, for fear of bursting out in tears. Some were already crying, while some just stared at the casket in shock.

The first four Guardians (North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy) were the first to move. They grabbed the casket, walked over to the hole in the ground and gently lowered it in.

Nightlight was the first to respond. He walked over to. Mound of dirt with a shovel stuck in the top. He took the shovel with a moundful of dirt and watched as he poured the earth over the casket. Nightlight then returned to his spot in the line. The process continued with Ombric, then the Guardians, then the Season Spirits until the hole in the ground was filled.

Jack was the last to finish. He walked over to the grave and shoveled the remaining dirt on the earth covering the casket. Jack looked at the plaque resting at the head of the grave. It read:

'Here lies Terra Pitchiner; A small girl with quiet courage'

"Goodby, Terra." Jack crud, his tears falling on the fresh soil. He stayed where he stood, looking at the grave.

"I shouldn't have looked for Pitch. I should've kept Terra safe..." Nightlife whispered, swiping the tears from his face.

"This could not have been prevented, Nighlight." Ombric replied, running a crack in the staff he held with his thumb. "This world I'll continue living, even if Terra is no longer with us."

"But it won't be the same without Nature..." Tooth said sadly.

"That won't stop us from brining the seasons." Cerelia determined.

"What about Jack?" Bunny questioned, receiving odd looks from everyone else.

"Jack should've tried harder to keep Nature from dying." Cerelia stated bitterly, turning away from everyone else.

"You can't blame Jack for all that's happened, Lia!" August stopped in front of Cerelia.

"Yeah." Solstice joined August. "Tera practically sacrificed herself for Jack. He may be annoying sometimes, but he's gotta have done something important if Terra did that for him."

"It doesn't matter anymore." Cerelia walked away, her arms folded over her chest.

Jack sighed, his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. He had yet to find his staff, but that didn't matter right now.

"Jack, Bunny's taking us back to the North Pole, but take your time." Tooth informed, struggling to smile.

"I'll be there in a minute."

Tooth only nodded and flew off.

Jack managed a tiny smile. "Thank you, Terra. Thank you for all you've done." The Frost Spirit said before joining his friends.

Jack was clueless as to what exactly he should do. He did know something, however, and it was this:

Terra's death would not be in vain.

 **The End**


	27. One last thing

I guess I should just tell you guys that there will be a sequel to The Unseen Conflict. Of course I wouldn't leave it like that. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until after Christmas because I seriously need a break from writing heartbreaking scenes. I literally cried at the end of this. So yeah, I think you'll like the sequel; what I have in my little plans is very cool (at least that's what I think). Keep an eye out :) now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna drown myself in Imagine Dragons music and organize my room :) Goodbye, my peeps.


End file.
